6ix Passions

We don’t have big, long-term plans, because they’re scary — and they’re usually wrong. Making massive decisions keeps people up at night — I don’t like to make those. The closer you can get to understanding what that next moment might be, the less worried you are. Most of the decisions we make are in the moment, on the fly, as we go.

I just can’t have enough of the Inc.com The Way I Work articles. Since I read the one of the founder of Kayak, Paul English, I have downloaded all of the business founder/manager profiles on my Instapaper account.

Jason Fried is a one of the greatest thinking model for me and even if I knew about most of his business philosophy, connecting with his daily routine is just awesome.

Thanks Inc.com for this amazing format.

This article is so inspiring that if I had to find quote in it, I would have to quote the entire article! If you run a business of any type, you need to read this article. It is a must, a holy grail must.

Ok enough selling it. Go read it.

I’ve recently noticed that many startups hire junior programmers and designers immediately after they receive funding, and then hire up the ladder, filling the most senior positions last. When you’re building a new team inside a company with lots of money, this is almost always a bad idea. By the time a senior employee is hired, his team has already been built entirely without his input. This is bad for multiple reasons, but the most important one is that experts (senior employees) have a weird sixth sense for instantly detecting good talent that non-experts lack.

Another great article by Dustin Curtis.

Building a company cannot be done starting from the roof, but from its fondations. Hiring the seniors first is the only way to go. Doing it otherwise will only lead to lost of money, time, knowledge and spirit.

Aaron Swartz:

“There are three questions you have when you’re hiring a programmer (or anyone, for that matter): Are they smart? Can they get stuff done? Can you work with them? Someone who’s smart but doesn’t get stuff done should be your friend, not your employee. You can talk your problems over with them while they procrastinate on their actual job. Someone who gets stuff done but isn’t smart is inefficient: non-smart people get stuff done by doing it the hard way and working with them is slow and frustrating. Someone you can’t work with, you can’t work with.”

What Aaron describes is not only good advice to hire programmers, but to anyone you would like to work with. I would also add that you have a good chance of finding smart and GTD candidates in the ones who are passionate at what they do and like to share it.

(via SuperAmit)

A very interesting article from Rands about management and remote employees.

There is a constant flow of information in your company. That means there are constant drips in the Pond, creating various-sized ripples traveling every which way, bumping into each other, and transforming each other into slightly mutated ripples.

…

A remote employee is not in the Pond. Yes, he’s on the mailing lists and he aggressively updates the wiki, but the subtle, unintentional, tweaked, quiet information that is transferred throughout the Pond doesn’t leave the Pond.

…

My belief is that without deliberate attention, the remote employee slowly becomes irrelevant to the organization. Through no fault of their own, they can be gradually pushed to the edge of what’s important. And when you’re at the edge, you’re an organizational shudder from falling over it. Failure happens at the edges.

Avoiding failure involves asking four questions before they leave:

1. Do they have the personality?
2. Do they have the right job?
3. Does the culture support it?
4. Do you have a remote friction detection and resolution policy?