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Wishing for a Better Outcome Isn't a Mechanism. The COE Approach to Continual Improvement and Avoiding Blame.
Focus on what you can control, and move past your narrow focus on outcomes. When mistakes happen, the right question is: Why did your system allow it…
Jul 7
•
Dave Anderson
146
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Scarlet Ink
Wishing for a Better Outcome Isn't a Mechanism. The COE Approach to Continual Improvement and Avoiding Blame.
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June 2025
How AI Helps (and Doesn’t Help) with My 70k Reader Newsletter
We're in a weird halfway world where AI is both somewhat competent, and unreliable.
Jun 30
•
Dave Anderson
17
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Scarlet Ink
How AI Helps (and Doesn’t Help) with My 70k Reader Newsletter
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5
The Hidden Cost of Process: A Guide for Tech Leaders
Building processes is a mechanism for resolving issues fully. But they're also bottlenecks which slow your organization down. How do you navigate this…
Jun 23
•
Dave Anderson
32
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The Hidden Cost of Process: A Guide for Tech Leaders
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10
KPIs Gone Wild: Cautionary Tales of Lost Customer Obsession
How using KPIs and metrics as proxies, goals, or games leads us away from real customer value.
Jun 16
•
Dave Anderson
21
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KPIs Gone Wild: Cautionary Tales of Lost Customer Obsession
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4
From One-Way to Two-Way Doors: Rethinking How We Make Big Decisions
How to recognize the differences between one-way and two-way doors. A way to think about risk and decision-making.
Jun 9
•
Dave Anderson
24
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From One-Way to Two-Way Doors: Rethinking How We Make Big Decisions
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Your Boss Thinks You Suck. Now What?
When your 'areas to improve' sounds like a shopping list. Or more subtly, an afternoon is ruined when you get a little honest feedback on your…
Jun 2
•
Dave Anderson
34
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Your Boss Thinks You Suck. Now What?
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5
May 2025
Delegate Delegation — An Upgrade to the Common Delegation Practice of Micro Management
Many managers (and individuals) assume that load balancing their team members is the manager's job. That's a pretty bad idea. And I'll explain why.
May 26
•
Dave Anderson
32
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Delegate Delegation — An Upgrade to the Common Delegation Practice of Micro Management
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5
You Must Find a Passion Project - AKA How to Avoid Being a Boring Human
I'm absolutely off topic today. Like if being on topic was a road in downtown Seattle, I'd be hiking up Rattlesnake Ledge today. Which, if you don't…
May 19
•
Dave Anderson
52
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Scarlet Ink
You Must Find a Passion Project - AKA How to Avoid Being a Boring Human
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4
Resolve Risk First - Why Complexity and Ambiguity Not Effort Should Dictate Your Focus
Too often we resolve the hardest work first, instead of the riskiest. A walk through of why that's a mistake.
May 12
•
Dave Anderson
47
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Resolve Risk First - Why Complexity and Ambiguity Not Effort Should Dictate Your Focus
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How to Both Embrace and Defeat Imposter Syndrome
Our skills aren't perfect. Moving past our weaknesses is how we discover our ways to add value, and improve along the way.
May 5
•
Dave Anderson
58
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How to Both Embrace and Defeat Imposter Syndrome
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4
April 2025
Inside a High-Severity Outage: A Late Night Sev-2 at Amazon
A detailed narrative of how we communicated about, worked on, and resolved a technical mess we created.
Apr 28
•
Dave Anderson
56
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Inside a High-Severity Outage: A Late Night Sev-2 at Amazon
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6
13 Tech Career Misconceptions — Things I Wish I'd Learned Earlier
Misunderstandings about performance, promotions, influence, and leadership that most people only realize late in their careers.
Apr 21
•
Dave Anderson
70
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13 Tech Career Misconceptions — Things I Wish I'd Learned Earlier
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4
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