Return to this when meetings, feature lists and firefighting start standing in for product outcomes. Its sharp contrasts give you concrete behaviours to examine: written decisions, customer value and responsibility for the result.
Product managers defining what they own.
Reading context
Horowitz introduces this as an old training document and questions its relevance to modern PMs. Treat the CEO metaphor as a prompt about responsibility, not a literal description of authority.
Training note · Summary available
a16z.com · Ben Horowitzvia Sachin Rekhi’s PM canonJune 2012
Use this when a convincing demo is doing too much of the work in a launch decision. The eval examples help turn a vague quality judgment into explicit criteria you can check after a prompt or model changes.
PMs deciding whether an AI product is improving.
Reading context
The publisher labels this a subscriber-only edition. The available text supports the note, but does not establish complete access to the guide.
Practical guide · Subscription required · Some background helpful · Summary available
Lenny's Newsletter · Aman Khanvia Editor’s archive · RaindropApril 2025
Read this before moving boxes on an organisation chart. It makes the cost of broken relationships, unclear decision rights and lost context visible, then asks how the people doing the work can shape the change.
Leaders planning or responding to a reorganisation.
Reading context
Petty argues from management experience. Use the questions to examine a particular restructure rather than assuming every change of structure is a mistake.
Keep this close when strategy discussions collapse into a single idea of winning. The examples across biology and business offer a vocabulary for different advantages and for combinations a feature comparison might miss.
People looking for alternatives to a familiar competitive strategy.
Reading context
The list offers possibilities and analogies, not proof that a particular combination will work for your product.
Reference list · About 6 min · publisher estimate · Summary available
Return to this when soft skills or culture fit are too vague to be useful. Observable behaviours and interview questions make it easier to discuss curiosity, premature convergence and safe intervention with concrete examples.
Leaders discussing how a team handles ambiguity.
Reading context
The authors stress that these capabilities also belong to groups and environments. They are not a universal checklist to apply to every task or judge every individual.
Capability guide · Some background helpful · Summary available
The Beautiful Mess — John Cutler · Tom Kerwin and John Cutlervia Editor’s selectionsFebruary 2024
Use this to examine a problem you have quietly accepted as fixed. Its combination of clear thinking, action and willingness to disagree offers three separate questions to ask before deciding that nothing can be done.
People who feel stuck waiting for permission or ideal conditions.
Reading context
This is a persuasive essay built around stories and examples, not a validated personality test.
Long-form essay · Summary available
highagency.com · George Mackvia Editor’s archive · RaindropApril 2026
Read this when gratitude has become a list of the same obvious things. Moving between biology, cooperation and the conditions of everyday life shifts attention toward background advantages that are easy to take for granted.
Readers looking for a less familiar way to practise gratitude.
Reading context
Some entries are explicitly speculative. The value of the reading exercise does not depend on accepting every scientific or philosophical claim.
