2023 Year In Review
The Geekway, and may we all focus on what is meaningful
2023 was challenging yet transformational. I am grateful to be in good company of great people and great books. Here’s what I read in the year.
I am surprised to find the common theme across different topic: Focusing and Learning the whys.
My favorite book would be The Geek Way by Andrew McAfee.
On the surface it almost sound like cliché to anyone working in tech or open source. But the book delves in the whys. These practices proactively counter human instincts and social behaviors. For example:
Avoid overconfidence & bias. Adopt Science and evidence
Avoid status-seeking & bureaucracy. Adopt Ownership
Avoid diffusion of responsibility. Adopt Speed and iterations
Avoid defensiveness. Adopt Openness
Most of the researches and stories cited are pretty well known. But they are put into a refreshing context of Homo Socialis. The geek companies therefore prevent human nature from shooting ourselves in the foot with these practices.
But in my own experience, these SOSO (Science, Ownership, Speed, Openness) practices are actually easier said then done. If you don’t intentionally keep them, things can derail pretty quickly and becoming bureaucratic and dysfunctional. Understanding the whys helps you keep them real and avoid busywork and focus on the real goal: Optimize for organizational learning and culture evolution.
Aside from organizational wide culture evolution, If we zoom into the data function of modern companies, they are the pillar for Science and being able to argue with evidence. But why does iterating the data systems still feel unnatural and clunky despite all the data tools we have? my current theory is that we’ve been blindly copying software engineering practices to the data realm. This is an area we are actively working on, so stay tuned!
A year ago I shared with a few friends: “may we all struggle meaningfully”.
For 2024, may we all focus on what is meaningful.
Happy 2024.
Thank you for recommending the great book, I'll also add it to my reading list for this year!