About The Hard Thing About Hard Things
One of the things that I like about reading books “about work” is that they inspire me to do more and better at work, and feeling inspired is good for me work-wise. To this end I must recommend “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz which was recommended to me by Peck.
The book is mostly about being a CEO, and in startups, but I found it applicable to my job at a big company. It reminded me of that feeling we had in startups early in my career. I found it helpful to think like a CEO because it made me feel empowered to run my own team with stronger leadership. I also found it helpful to think about myself and my own performance from the perspective of the CEO. Additionally, it was interesting and inspiring to think about whether i have what it takes to be an executive in the various stages of business.
Other than warm inspiring feelings, the book also lays out some straightforward things that we can do to make better places to work. I also like the idea that this is an end to itself as we have to work where we work, so we might as well make it nice.
I feel like the most important take aways for me were:
designing and implementing training is the best use of a managers time
structured feedback and promotions avoid political activities
take care of people, the products and the profits...in that order
I also really enjoyed all the cursing and rap lyrics. I found this relatable.
