product development

"You know, there are 13 ways of doing anything. 11 of them will work. Just pick one and do it.”. Dennis Hightower, who at the time was head of Disney International.

He asked me why I wasn’t doing something, and I responded by explaining the pros and cons of two different ways of doing it. Thoughtfully, he replied “You know, there are 13 ways of doing anything. 11 of them will work. Just pick one and do it.”

The best Founders avoid over-analyzing. At a startup, you don’t have time — and the result will most likely be marginal. Pick a way and do it. Be consistently decisive.

Quick reflections on vibe-coding:

• kicks up weird addiction cycles in me
• the end product feels more like 20-30% jordan's creation and 70-80% LLM's. The text for example is all a little off, the style, etc, and it drifts because it's so easy to have it do it and so much more "time consuming" to go fix all the little bits (plus you have no guarantee it wont fuck something else up) and keep them coherent, versus just surrendering to the llm
• As a result I feel weirdly not that autonomous... like is the LLM working for me or am I working for it? This feels similar to the addiction cycle too
• There's a vibe that's similar to the "HR Lady" tone and em-dash hell of the LLM writing; like everything is sanitized and optimized for general professional sleeze marketing and you can't quite put your finger on why it sucks. The glassmorphism designs and gradients feel similar
• I continue to feel like I'm learning a lot from it, but I have updated to think that at the current stage its at, its actually an unhealthy practice and so is a little like a blood sacrifice that should be used sparingly. I imagine this will change, but maybe it'll get worse.

Politics self-assessment quiz from an integral perspective. I’m obsessively working on a course I’ve been trying to build for 4 years and have recently made big breakthroughs with. I’ve just completed the first draft of questions in the topic of politics.

Ideally, the way this would be scored is that people could rank all of the statements that are true for them, put as many responses as they want in a no way bucket, and put as many responses as they want in a I don’t get it bucket. I haven’t found a quiz builder tool that will let me build it that way yet, so in the meantime I’m using one that lets me randomize the order the responses are shown in and lets them rank the answers.

Here’s the first draft of the prompts, would love any and all feedback, support, and nit-picking!

What are your opinions and feelings about politics?

 M I personally don’t care, that’s just not where my focus is in my life.

 R I’ll stand firm until I die to defend my country.

 A I worry that things could be heading in the wrong direction.

 O The people with the best strategies will always win.

 G The efforts of good intentions are persistently threatened by corruption and greed.

 T The current political landscape shows me a mirror of my inner world, and the most impactful solutions start by looking within.

What are your priorities in how you interact with politics?

 M I’m not going to do anything that might make my people reject me.

  R As long as I can live my life the way I want to, we’re good, but as soon as someone tries to get in the way I’m going to fight for my rights.

 A I perform my civic duty, like voting, writing to my senator and staying aware of local politics, because that’s what a conscientious citizen does to maintain what matters.

 O I leverage connections and resources to move the cogs of the political machine in directions that support my endeavors.

 G I volunteer for causes that work to fix systemic flaws and care for those in need.

 T I trust the overarching trend that life has always had toward greater good, and I take action when needed.

What do you want or expect from politicians?

 M As long as me and my family’s lives stay the same, whatever they do is ok by me.

 R Take charge, get shit done, and don’t get in the way of what I want.

 A Protect our valued traditions and morals.

 O Make everything as functional as possible without getting in the way of progress.

 G Undo antiquated laws that systematically oppress and harm people, and create safety nets to ensure everyone’s basic needs will always be met.

 T Stay aware of societal patterns, and look for solutions that balance holding firm limits with honoring the current views of all who live here.

What are the keystones of our political culture?

 M I’m not really sure.

 R Honoring our forefathers who fought for our independence.

 A Maintaining law and order.

 O The system of checks and balances makes sure history doesn’t get in the way of innovation.

 G Legislation that protects people and the environment.

 T Public and private entities interacting to create policies that accurately represent the beliefs of the people.

When you talk about politics, where do you tend to come from?

 UL My feelings- what makes me feel safe and protected, and what makes me feel threatened.

 LL The people I love- what matters to them and will help them feel safe and protected.

 UR Data- polls, statistics, and effectiveness.

 LR Systemic impacts- how voting functions, ways laws are implemented, etc.

When you take in information about politics, what do you want most?

 UL Personalization- ask me questions and find out what matters to me.

 LL Connection- let’s listen to each other and see what we discover.

 UR Facts- I want to study what’s happening and why it’s happening.

 LR Structures- I want to explore the methods and protocols at work.

The Relateful Company should embrace more job titles. We’re under-appreciating orange.

We’ve included the green critiques, like the classic:

What gets measured gets managed — even when it’s pointless to measure and manage it, and even if it harms the purpose of the organisation to do so - V. F. Ridgway, 1956

But we need to embrace more healthy competition, striving for excellence, even rankings.

one way we can do this is to make more liberal use of titles, and brag on people. @Valerie Daniel is the MANAGING DIRECTOR, and we should have her listed as such in emails and things

What else is healthy orange and how can we transclude it?
What do we already do that is already healthy orange?