Layers of Work
Lessons from operating at the organizational layer
A client showed us their designs. Among them, an animated globe. Core to the UI delightfulness, technically non-trivial, the kind of thing that usually gets a "we'll figure it out during development" footnote in proposals. I decided to check how hard it actually was.
Most people treat promotions like gifts. They say yes immediately, afraid the offer might disappear. Then six months later they're drowning in a role they never properly understood, working for someone they wouldn't have chosen, wondering what went wrong.
You can read dozens of leadership books and still not know whether your boss is any good. Most frameworks are either too abstract ("be authentic!") or too narrow ("here's how to run a 1:1"). Here is a list of traits I actually look for when evaluating leaders - whether I'm hiring, promoting, or figuring out if the person above me is worth following.
You hire people you think are great performers. Their performance turns out average.