Hey there,
Wednesday rolls around again and so I have three of the most interesting, founder-friendly links I’ve seen this week for you. There’s a bit of an interesting through-line about volume, quality and predictability through this week’s articles.
best regards,
sw
RECOMMENDED THIS WEEK #1
The worst designer I’ve ever worked with was also the most productive
The story of a highly productive designer whose impressive output volume initially won praise. But soon the speed-first approach created serious problems: coping with the output meant bypassing essential processes like QA, testing and wider alignment. This illustrates a dangerous pattern where companies mistake activity for progress – effective design work requires discernment – questioning, testing and refining – not just production.
My take:
This is a good reminder that founders need to make sure we steer clear of rewarding pure output over outcomes. In the era where generative AI makes production of “stuff” ever quicker, it’s a good reminder that we should measure all sorts of work by its impact rather than its volume.
> Read more
RECOMMENDED THIS WEEK #2
Spikiness – ups and downs, trust the process
Mike Fisher explores spikiness – the jagged, unpredictable pattern of real progress. Rather than the smooth upward trajectory we often love to imagine, genuine innovation means dramatic rises, painful crashes and lots of reinventions. He explains why we instinctively seek smoothness despite spikes being where actual growth occurs.
My take:
The founder journey is probably spikier than most. As someone who loves a plan, I tend to fall into trap that Mike talks about. His explanation of spikiness resonated as it felt like a much better representation of the reality that unfolds on most scale-up journeys.
> Read more
RECOMMENDED THIS WEEK #3
What is creativity without craft?
Rachel Botsman takes issue with Marc Andreessen’s claim that AI video tools “democratise creativity”. She questions whether reducing creation to prompt-giving really empowers people positively. She goes on to argue that creativity requires friction – the messy middle where mistakes and repetition build craft, intuition and genuine understanding of the issue or topic at hand.
My take:
I’m seeing a lot more of this play out in “work” that I see produced. Whether it’s a strategy, a roadmap or an article, it’s too easy to see where there’s been an over-reliance on AI and a lack of actual thought. I share Rachel’s concern for what this means when true problems at work aren’t given the depth of thought they need to achieve a genuine resolution, especially in the rapid world of founder-led scale-ups.
From the Build archive
Build #62 –
Designing for deeper work
What’s the cost of not designing work to give your team members the space to actually think?
Build #56 –
Systems over goals
Founders tend to rely on goals too much, but systemising is a better bet to achieve scale.
