Students need to fail

Are you failing enough? School is a place that trains you to give the right answer, and where failure is punished. Are you trying to do things that have never been done? Are you seeking answers no one knows already? Risk failure to find...

Ideas

February 14, 2015

Start now

When you're young you have an incredible advantage for starting something new: you don't know that you can't do it, and you have little to lose and much to gain. When you get older, you'll probably have more to lose. You'll have family and...

Ideas

October 30, 2014

Growth

A series on the Faithlife core values: Honesty. Openness. Awesomeness. Growth. Initiative. Elegance. Shipping. We spend a lot of years preparing to be ‘all grown-up.’ Childhood is focused on learning and growth and experiences in...

Ideas

October 29, 2014

Ask for improvements, not feedback

Your work can be better. Mine can be, too. I want to be intentional about excellence. I want our team to decide that we are going to value excellent work and pursue excellence in our own output. And here's the tool to make it happen: Improve the...

Ideas

October 27, 2014

Without objection

"Without objection, I will ship the alpha Tuesday at 10 am." "Without objection, this ad will go live on the front page at end of workday." The most powerful phrase for shipping a product, a web page, or an idea is "without objection". We are all...

Ideas

August 7, 2014

Advice to my 21 year-old self

An intern invited me to coffee today and asked what advice I'd give my 21 year-old self. The answer was easy: read more history and biography. As the saying goes, "Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad...

Ideas

August 5, 2014

Entourage

I was reading an article about a famous, wealthy person. The reporter noted that he was surrounded by an entourage, some of whom seemed employed only to laugh at his jokes. It reminded me that the Bible addressed this (and everything!) long...

Ideas

May 1, 2014

Advice to a young CEO

What's the best advice for a young, first-time CEO? Get rid of your television It sounds silly, but you're going to need every moment of every day, and television is a distraction you can't afford. Read business history and biography Remember the...

Ideas

September 18, 2012

Getting ahead

Thoughts on getting ahead, specifically in your career and earnings. This is the blunt, direct advice I give employees one-on-one, and what I'm sharing with my kids as they head off to...

Ideas

October 19, 2011

If you’re learning a lot in class, you’re doing it wrong.

I recently spoke with a student majoring in Computer Science who was interested in working for my company. When I asked if he understood a particular concept, he told me he hadn't taken that class yet. I understand learning about English...

Category: Ideas

Students need to fail

Start now

Growth

Ask for improvements, not feedback

Without objection

Advice to my 21 year-old self

Entourage

Advice to a young CEO

Getting ahead

If you’re learning a lot in class, you’re doing it wrong.

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