How Google sold its engineers on management

How Google sold its engineers on management
19 minutes by David A. Garvin

Google once questioned whether managers were needed at all. To find out, they launched Project Oxygen, using surveys and data analysis to study what their best managers actually did. The research identified eight key behaviors, like coaching, clear communication, and supporting career growth. These findings were turned into training programs, and measurable improvements in management quality followed across the company. The history is repeating itself again today.

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The 80/20 rule for your whole life
16 minutes by Yew Jin Lim

A stable 80% foundation paired with a 20% experimental layer is a framework that works across careers, finances, and personal growth. Most experiments fail, and that is fine, because the wins more than cover the losses. The key mindset shift is judging the whole portfolio rather than any single outcome. Small, consistent deposits into a solid base create the compounding that makes risk-taking possible and sustainable.

The Drucker drift
3 minutes by Seth Godin

Businesses exist to serve customers, not just shareholders. Companies that focus on customers tend to do better over time. Financial shortcuts may bring quick gains but rarely build lasting value. When businesses lose sight of this, everyone pays the price.

The subtraction instinct
10 minutes by Mike Fisher

People naturally default to adding things when solving problems, even when removing something would work better. Research confirms this is a systematic bias, not just a personal quirk, and it gets worse under pressure. Organizations make it worse still by rewarding visible additions while ignoring quiet removals. Mike argues that leaders can fight this by making subtraction a standing agenda item and celebrating the people who find ways to do more with less.

You cannot manage your peers
7 minutes by Louise Deason

You can't manage a peer — you have no authority over them. What you can do is introduce structure the team is missing, make work visible, have one honest conversation about impact, and protect yourself from their failure becoming yours. These four things will help, but they won't fully fix a leadership problem. If nothing improves, the real question is how long you're willing to hold up something that isn't yours to hold.

And the most popular article from the last issue was:

• The art of simplifying decisions