Strategy

Richard Rumelt is a legend in the world of strategy. He’s the author of Good Strategy/Bad Strategy and The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists, both of which are often recommended by guests on this podcast. From his early days teaching in Iran at a Harvard-sponsored business school to teaching at Harvard Business School itself to over four decades teaching at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, Richard’s impact resonates globally. His strategic insights are sought after by major corporations including Microsoft, Shell, Apple, AT&T, Intel, and Commonwealth Bank and by governmental organizations such as the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. In this episode, we discuss:

• The essential components of a good strategy

• The importance of coherence in strategy

• Common pitfalls that create a bad strategy

• How “power” plays into strategy, and common sources of power

• The value of knowing history when developing effective strategies

• Why a strategy should simply be called an “action agenda”

• The need for one decider in an organization

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/good-strategy-bad-strategy-richard-rumelt/

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Where to find Richard Rumelt:

• Email: richard@generalimagination.com

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-rumelt-18520828/

• Website: https://thecruxbook.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Richard’s background

(04:29) What is a strategy?

(06:23) The essential components of a good strategy (the “kernel”)

(15:04) An example of good strategy

(16:55) Bad strategy

(25:17) The importance of focus and power

(28:19) Identifying and utilizing power

(34:38) Types of power

(41:13) Implementing power

(48:15) The importance of historical knowledge

(55:23) How to write an action agenda

(01:02:47) The crux

(01:10:40) Challenges to executing a strategy

(01:15:44) The need for a decider

(01:20:39) Strategy for startups

(01:26:04) Richard’s “value denials” exercise

(01:31:01) Closing thoughts

(01:33:57) Lightning round

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Referenced:

• China’s Xi says ‘reunification’ with Taiwan is inevitable: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/31/chinas-xi-says-reunification-with-taiwan-is-inevitable.html

• The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists: https://www.amazon.com/Crux-How-Leaders-Become-Strategists/dp/1541701240

• Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-Difference-Matters/dp/0307886239

• Fundamental Issues in Strategy: A Research Agenda: https://www.amazon.com/Fundamental-Issues-Strategy-Research-Agenda/dp/0875843433/

• Strategy, Structure, and Economic Performance: https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Structure-Economic-Performance-Richard/dp/0875841090

• There’s more than the CIA and FBI: The 17 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community: https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-17-intelligence-agencies-20170112-story.html

• Programme for International Student Assessment: https://www.oecd.org/pisa/

• Gerstner: Changing Culture at IBM—Lou Gerstner Discusses Changing the Culture at IBM: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/gerstner-changing-culture-at-ibm-lou-gerstner-discusses-changing-the-culture-at-ibm

• Marvin Lieberman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marvin-lieberman-2a6b72/

• S&P 500: https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/indices/equity/sp-500/#overview

• Battle of Tora Bora: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tora_Bora

• Milton Friedman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman

• The Louvre: https://www.louvre.fr/en

• How does SpaceX build its Falcon 9 reusable rocket?: https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/how-does-spacex-build-its-falcon-9-reusable-rocket

• Charles Darwin: History’s most famous biologist: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/charles-darwin-most-famous-biologist.html

• Donald Rumsfeld: https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/602800/

• Bush: The Decider-in-Chief: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-the-decider-in-chief/

• Woodrow Wilson: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/woodrow-wilson/

• How the Sinking of Lusitania Changed World War I: https://www.history.com/news/how-the-sinking-of-lusitania-changed-wwi

• Nokia: https://www.nokia.com/

• The Rise and Fall of Nokia: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=46041

• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/

• These New Windows Let the Summer Breeze In, But Block the Street Noise: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-new-windows-let-the-summer-breeze-in-but-block-the-street-noise-7906121/

• Stop it! (Bob Newhart): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvujypVVBAY

• The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business: https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Revolutionary-Change-Business/dp/0062060244

• Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Strategy-Really-Works/dp/142218739X

• Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1982176865

• Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company: https://www.amazon.com/Only-Paranoid-Survive-Exploit-Challenge/dp/0385483821

• Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.: https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Life-John-Rockefeller-Sr/dp/1400077303/

• Yellowstone on Paramount+: https://www.paramountnetwork.com/shows/yellowstone

• Smart telescopes: https://milehighastro.com/collections/smart-telescopes

• Cassandra Clare: https://cassandraclare.com/

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Will Larson is Chief Technology Officer at Carta. Prior to joining Carta, he was the CTO at Calm and held engineering leadership roles at Stripe, Uber, and Digg. He is the author of two foundational engineering career books, An Elegant Puzzle and Staff Engineer, and The Engineering Executive’s Primer, which will be released in February. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Systems thinking: what it is and how to apply it

• Advice for product managers on fostering productive relationships with engineering managers

• Why companies should treat engineers like adults

• How to best measure developer productivity

• Writing and its impact on his career

• How to balance writing with a demanding job

• How to develop your company values

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-engineering-mindset-will-larson-carta-stripe-uber-calm-digg/

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Where to find Will Larson:

• X: https://twitter.com/Lethain

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-larson-a44b543/

• Website: https://lethain.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Will’s background

(04:12) Changes in the field of engineering

(06:27) We need to stop treating engineers like children

(08:32) Systems thinking

(13:23) Implementing systems thinking in hiring

(16:32) Engineering strategy

(20:21) Examples of engineering strategies

(25:08) How to get good at strategy

(26:48) The importance of writing about things that excite you

(32:40) The biggest risk to content creation is quitting too soon

(35:24) How to make time for writing

(37:41) Tips for aspiring writers

(41:18) Building productive relationships between product managers and engineers

(43:45) Giving the same performance rating to EMs and PMs

(48:24) Measuring engineering productivity

(55:53) Defining company values

(01:02:10) Failure corner: the Digg rewrite

(01:11:05) Will’s upcoming book, The Engineering Executive’s Primer

(01:12:04) Lightning round

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Referenced:

• The end of the “free money” era: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/11/techscape-zirp-tech-boom

• Work on what matters: https://lethain.com/work-on-what-matters/

• Sheryl Sandberg to Harvard Biz Grads: “Find a Rocket Ship”: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/05/24/sheryl-sandberg-to-harvard-biz-grads-find-a-rocket-ship/?sh=708c9a93b37a

• What Is Systems Thinking?: https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/business/what-is-systems-thinking

• Introduction to systems thinking: https://lethain.com/systems-thinking/

• Thinking in Systems: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557

• Silent Spring: https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Spring-Rachel-Carson/dp/0618249060

• Writing an engineering strategy: https://lethain.com/eng-strategies/

• Carta: https://carta.com/

• Eric Vogl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericvogl/

• Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-difference-matters/dp/1781256179

• The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists: https://www.amazon.com/Crux-How-Leaders-Become-Strategists/dp/1541701240/

• How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything in Between: https://www.amazon.com/How-Big-Things-Get-Done/dp/0593239512/

• Technology Strategy Patterns: Architecture as Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/Technology-Strategy-Patterns-Architecture/dp/1492040878/

• The Value Flywheel Effect: Power the Future and Accelerate Your Organization to the Modern Cloud: https://www.amazon.com/Value-Flywheel-Effect-Accelerate-Organization/dp/1950508579

• The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win: https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/1942788290

• The Engineering Executive’s Primer: Impactful Technical Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Executives-Primer-Impactful-Leadership/dp/1098149483

• An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management: https://press.stripe.com/an-elegant-puzzle

• Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track: https://www.amazon.com/Staff-Engineer-Leadership-beyond-management-ebook/dp/B08RMSHYGG

• Gergely Orosz’s newsletter: https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/author/gergely/

• Leaving big tech to build the #1 technology newsletter | Gergely Orosz (The Pragmatic Engineer): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/leaving-big-tech-to-build-the-1-technology-newsletter-gergely-orosz-the-pragmatic-engineer/

• The art of product management | Shreyas Doshi (Stripe, Twitter, Google, Yahoo): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/the-art-of-product-management-shreyas-doshi-stripe-twitter-google-yahoo/

• Henry Ward on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heward/

• Vrushali Paunikar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vrushali-paunikar/

• Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations: https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Technology-Organizations/dp/1942788339

• How to measure and improve developer productivity | Nicole Forsgren (Microsoft Research, GitHub, Google): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-measure-and-improve-developer-productivity-nicole-forsgren-microsoft-research-github-goo/

• DORA: https://dora.dev/

• Setting engineering org values: https://lethain.com/setting-engineering-org-values/

• Digg: https://digg.com/

• Kevin Rose on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinrose/

• Digg’s v4 launch: an optimism born of necessity: https://lethain.com/digg-v4/

• Dash Gopinath on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dashgopinath/

• Rich Schumacher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richschumacher/

• The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate: https://www.amazon.com/ALL-NEW-Dont-Think-Elephant-ebook/dp/B00NP9LHFA

• Top Chef on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/top-chef/5172289448907967112

• Hard to work with: https://lethain.com/hard-to-work-with/

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

In this special compilation episode, we delve into failure—an overlooked source of wisdom. From freezing onstage in front of thousands of people, to coworkers staging an intervention, to huge product investments that went to zero, we’ve pulled our favorite stories of failure from 100+ podcast episodes. I hope these stories serve as a gentle nudge to view failure not as a setback but as a crucial detour toward growth.

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/failure/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, you’ll hear from:

(00:00) Lenny: Why I’m focusing on failure

(03:25) Katie Dill: The single meeting that changed how Katie leads forever

(08:03) Paul Adams: Freezing onstage in front of thousands of people

(18:38) Tom Conrad: Lessons from Pets.com and Quibi—two of the most famous product disasters of all time

(33:19) Sri Batchu: When you fail, make sure you fail conclusively

(39:00) Jiaona Zhang (JZ): One of the biggest product misses at Airbnb

(44:32) Gina Gotthilf: Everyone has an “A side” and a “B side,” and we should all share our B sides more

(57:57) Maggie Crowley: Her favorite interview question about failure, and lessons from a personal failure

(1:00:33) Thanks for listening

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Brian Chesky is the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb. Under Brian’s leadership, Airbnb has grown into a community of over 4 million hosts who have welcomed more than 1.5 billion guests across over 220 countries and regions. I had the privilege of working under his leadership, so it is a great honor to have him on the show. We discuss:

• How Airbnb has shifted their thinking on product management

• Why bureaucracy happens in companies, and how to avoid it

• The importance of founders diving into the details

• Why Airbnb moved away from traditional growth channels and what they are doing instead

• Airbnb’s newly released features

• How and why Brian encourages his team to set ambitious goals

• Why he says he still has a lot to prove

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/#transcript

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Where to find Brian Chesky:

• X: https://twitter.com/bchesky

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Brian’s background

(05:18) The current structure of product management at Airbnb

(09:21) How fast-moving companies become slow-moving bureaucracies

(12:20) Brian’s thoughts on performance marketing

(13:50) Airbnb’s rolling two-year roadmap

(15:30) Brian’s journey as CEO in a growing company

(18:34) Best practices for A/B testing 

(20:30) Who inspired Airbnb’s new direction

(23:18) The first changes Brian implemented at the onset of the pandemic

(24:51) Why founders should be “in the details” 

(30:15) Airbnb’s marketing, communication, and creative functions

(31:38) Advice for founders on how to lead

(34:15) Tips for implementing Airbnb’s business methodology 

(38:48) Airbnb’s winter release

(41:47) Why Airbnb no longer has separate guest and host teams 

(42:38) Brian’s thoughts on design trends 

(45:36) The importance of empowering hosts with great tools

(45:57) How setting ambitious goals improves team performance 

(50:05) Tips for preventing burnout

(56:02) Tips for personal and professional growth 

(58:19) Why Brian says he still has a lot to prove

(1:02:58) Paying it forward

(1:05:03) A fun fact about Brian

(1:09:26) Airbnb’s origin story

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Referenced:

• Localmind: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/localmind

• Config 2023 in review: https://www.figma.com/blog/config-2023-recap/

• Why Founders Fail: The Product CEO Paradox: https://techcrunch.com/2013/08/10/why-founders-fail-the-product-ceo-paradox/

• Hiroki Asai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiroki-asai-a44137110/

• Jony Ive on Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/jonathan-ive

• Charles Eames: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eames

• Airbnb 2023 Winter Release: https://news.airbnb.com/en-in/airbnb-2023-winter-release-introducing-guest-favorites-a-collection-of-the-2-million-most-loved-homes-on-airbnb/

• Airbnb 2023 winter release reel: https://x.com/bchesky/status/1722243847751970861?s=20

• John Wooden’s website: https://coachwooden.com/

• An 85-year Harvard study found the No. 1 thing that makes us happy in life: It helps us ‘live longer’: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/10/85-year-harvard-study-found-the-secret-to-a-long-happy-and-successful-life.html

• Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama

• Alfred P. Sloan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_P._Sloan

• Bob Dylan quote: https://quotefancy.com/quote/950807/Bob-Dylan-An-artist-has-got-to-be-careful-never-really-to-arrive-at-a-place-where-he

• OpenAI: https://openai.com/

• Michael Seibel’s website: https://www.michaelseibel.com/

• Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/

• The Norman Rockwell Museum: https://www.nrm.org/

• Rhode Island School of Design: https://www.risd.edu/

• Joe Gebbia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgebbia/

• Nathan Blecharczyk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blecharczyk/

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

The AI and robotics revolution continues. As entrepreneurs find new ways to use these things profitably, the overall wealth of nations increases.

Original Article: The Fate or Wealth of Nations: AI, Robotics and Automation

The AI and robotics revolution continues. As entrepreneurs find new ways to use these things profitably, the overall wealth of nations increases.

Original Article: The Fate or Wealth of Nations: AI, Robotics and Automation

Tetris is one of the most popular video games of all time, and Henk Rogers helped make it happen. He first discovered the game at a convention in 1988, and immediately saw how elegant and addictive it was. As a software developer based in Japan, Henk set out to obtain selected publishing rights, but waded into a tangle of red tape that stretched from Japan to the U.S. to the Soviet Union. He eventually ventured behind the Iron Curtain to bluster his way into the obscure government office that managed Tetris. While in Moscow, Henk also met the game’s inventor, Alexey Pajitnov, and the two of them hit it off. After much legal wrangling across many time zones, Henk and Alexey won the worldwide rights to the game; and today, Tetris has sold over 500 million copies.

This episode was produced by Sam Paulson, with music by Ramtin Arablouei and Sam Paulson.

Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Katherine Sypher.

You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com.

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So many of us suffer over the issue of time management. 

Our guest today approaches the topic from research and personal experience and dives into how we can think more strategically about our time and aspire to build resilient schedules, rather than perfect ones. 

Laura Vanderkam is the author of several time management and productivity books. Her latest is Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company. Laura’s TED Talk on “How to Gain Control of Your Free Time” has been viewed more than 12 million times, and she also hosts the podcast Before Breakfast. Her previous books include Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done, I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time, What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, and 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. 

In this episode we talk about: 

• Why time is the great leveler
• Why time management strategies aren’t only for people lucky enough to set their own schedules 
• Why Laura’s number one rule in her book is to “give yourself a bedtime” 
• Why she is a big believer that that weekends and evenings do not have to be work free zones
• How to use exercise as a reset button during your day
• Why creating a habit doesn’t have to mean doing it everyday
• The time management rule that Laura gets the biggest pushback on 
• And the rule Laura says all the other rules are jealous of

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/laura-vanderkam-606

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When you consider the risk of doing business, it doesn’t get much bigger than starting a car company: competition is formidable, startup costs are in the billions, and very few people believe you can pull it off. That’s the massive challenge RJ Scaringe walked into in 2009, when he launched his truck and SUV company, Rivian. To add to the risk, RJ wanted to build fully electric vehicles while attracting drivers who’d never bought them, so he knew his trucks had to be fun and sporty: appealing in their own right. Rivian’s journey has taken RJ from an old warehouse in Florida to a massive Midwestern car manufacturing plant; and from years of stealth planning to months of anticipatory buzz from buyers and the industry. Rivian rolled its first trucks off the line in 2021, and is hustling to fulfill tens of thousands of vehicle reservations from excited customers. There have been pivots, sleepless nights, and, of course, multiple supply chain issues, but today, Rivian is valued at $30 billion and is a major player in the electric vehicle industry.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.