Christina Wodtke

The first can easily be summed up with the famous General George Patton quote: “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what you need done and let them surprise you with their results.”

Teams today are all too often feature factories, with little regard for whether or not the features actually solve the underlying business problems.

I usually refuse. Ideas, like NDAs, aren’t worth the paper they are printed on.

I almost never hear a new idea. In fact, it’s rare I hear an idea I haven’t thought of myself, unless it’s in an industry I’m unfamiliar with.

the enemy of timely execution is distraction.

“What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important.” – Dwight Eisenhower

I’ve seen any number of companies set OKRs, then ignore them the rest of the quarter. When the last week of the quarter shows up, they seem surprised when no progress has been made.

The only hope for success is iteration.

The heart of success is learning.

In companies where failure is punished, employees quickly learn not to try.

In the Friday wins session, teams all demo whatever they can.