These essays grew out of recurring questions from operating work—about judgment, responsibility, capability, development, uncertainty, and the dignity of work.
They are not intended as a complete management system. They are ideas I have worked through over time and decided to put into writing.
Where should judgment live in an organization?
Delegation is not simply transferring work. It determines how far another person’s judgment can move the organization before another authority needs to become involved—and what happens when that judgment produces an unwanted result.
Read Degrees of Freedom →Human dignity and organizational value are not the same thing.
Ordinary work does not need prestige to be honorable. At the same time, respecting a person does not require pretending that everyone contributes equally, possesses equal capability, or is suited to every role.
Read All Work Is Noble →Learning requires an accurate understanding of where knowledge ends.
“I don’t know” can expose a gap in knowledge, capability, information, resources, or confidence. The important question is what happens after the boundary becomes visible.
Read Learning Starts With “I Don’t Know” →Ambition is more useful when it has a concrete target.
Rather than waiting for a promotion, become capable of carrying more responsibility before the opportunity appears. The title may or may not follow. The capability remains yours.
Read Steal Your Boss’s Job →A Starburst demonstration, a bull, and a disagreement over steel gauge.
Those two experiences changed how I think about repeatability, engineering judgment, and the knowledge that can sit behind an inherited specification.
Read The Wager →