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Scarlet Ink

Scarlet Ink
Why Your Vision is a Critical Ingredient in Goal Setting Goal setting without a vision can be counter productive. Where are you trying to go?
2 months ago
Scarlet Ink
My 61k subscriber newsletter, about marketing, and a bit about relationships. An off-topic holiday... An off-topic holiday newsletter. And a happy New Year to you!
a month ago
Scarlet Ink
Managers Make Teams Deliver More Value, Not Deliver More Output True productivity for a team is measured by the value created, not the work completed. The job of a...
a month ago
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a month ago
True productivity for a team is measured by the value created, not the work completed. The job of a manager is to focus on the value hidden behind the piles of work.
Scarlet Ink
Don't Let Others Run Your Life — Cut Your Schedule Like a Slasher Movie If you don't make hard choices to focus on your top priorities, then you're choosing to fail at your...
2 months ago
Scarlet Ink
4 Patterns in Software Development Projects Which Lead to Failure With experience, you can recognize the less obvious patterns which lead to costly disasters.
a month ago
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The Hidden Advantage of Sharp Edges — Why Being Disagreeable is Best Anyone can be valuable if they have the right motivation, but strangely enough, being disagreeable...
a month ago
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How I Transformed Amazon's Internal Transfer Process Anecdotes, ranting, and some personal philosophy.
2 months ago
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Fake It Till You Make It — To Become a Leader, Act Like One I found, rather than waiting for my promotions at Amazon, I was more fulfilled and grew myself as a...
3 months ago
21
3 months ago
I found, rather than waiting for my promotions at Amazon, I was more fulfilled and grew myself as a leader by pretending I had already been promoted.
Scarlet Ink
Why You Can't Teach Leadership — Experience vs. Instruction I'm slightly exaggerating, as I do think there are some very specific things we can teach. But the...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
I'm slightly exaggerating, as I do think there are some very specific things we can teach. But the majority of the leadership job is gained through the school of hard knocks.
Scarlet Ink
Dave's Path to Amazon — And He Makes Fun of the Midwest My path to Amazon wasn't obvious, or all that intentional. But it changed my life forever.
5 months ago
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Stories of Good and Bad Feedback Dave Received From His Managers A few anecdotal stories of times I received feedback from the senior leaders in my life
4 months ago
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6 Ways that Good People Build Trust, and Become Leaders That Others Follow What type of leader do you want to be? One core identifying feature of admired leaders is how many...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
What type of leader do you want to be? One core identifying feature of admired leaders is how many people follow them to their next role. And trust is the core tool to improve that metric.
Scarlet Ink
Three Tales from an Amazon Bar Raiser A few examples of situations I went through as a bar raiser, one of the most entertaining positions...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
A few examples of situations I went through as a bar raiser, one of the most entertaining positions at Amazon.
Scarlet Ink
A Three Topic Article — Interviewing, Multiple Choice Management, and My Holiday Gift Guide Sometimes you have a single topic, sometimes you have three. Today is a 3-fer.
3 months ago
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3 Good Things and 3 Bad Things About Working at Amazon: From 12+ Years in Management Line manager to Senior Manager to Director. It was a great place to work, but I have a pretty...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Line manager to Senior Manager to Director. It was a great place to work, but I have a pretty balanced view of what Amazon does well, and what it doesn't.
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10 Reader Questions About Career Politics, Investing, Job Hopping, and AI (among others) Answering some reader questions on various topics. I love questions!
5 months ago
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Good Employees Follow the Rules. Great Employees Break Them. Because the rules are meant for those who aren't as smart and brave as you. Seriously.
4 months ago
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Work Enemies: Actions You Can Take to Protect Yourself From Bad Relationships You won't always get along with your co-workers. What can you do to protect yourself?
5 months ago
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9 Simple Actions You Can Take to Build a Culture of Empathy You can build an accidental culture, or a purposeful culture. Take action to build a culture of...
5 months ago
17
5 months ago
You can build an accidental culture, or a purposeful culture. Take action to build a culture of empathy, and reap the rewards.
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4 (More) Good Things and 2 (More) Bad Things and 2 Misunderstandings About Working at Amazon: From... A continuation of my previous article about my experiences at Amazon. What they do well, what they...
3 months ago
16
3 months ago
A continuation of my previous article about my experiences at Amazon. What they do well, what they don't do well, and in this article, I also mention a few common beliefs I disagree with.
Scarlet Ink
No More Excuses: Trading Blame for Action. Practical Steps Towards Ownership Instead of Whining. I'll admit a lack of patience for people who prefer to make excuses when they're given advice. It's...
5 months ago
16
5 months ago
I'll admit a lack of patience for people who prefer to make excuses when they're given advice. It's easier to make excuses rather than do the hard work.
Scarlet Ink
You Can't Schedule Creativity: Putting Inspiration Into Your Outlook Calendar Creation can't be forced, but it can certainly be encouraged gently.
3 weeks ago
Scarlet Ink
Senior Engineer or Senior Citizen? How Can Vintage Tech Workers Age Like Fine Wine? Experience in some careers is viewed as universally positive, but that's not necessarily the case in...
6 months ago
15
6 months ago
Experience in some careers is viewed as universally positive, but that's not necessarily the case in tech. Why is that, and what can you do about it?
Scarlet Ink
From Star Employee to Struggling Leader — A Simple Explanation of Your Manager's Incompetence No manager wants to be a terrible boss. Yet even with the best of intentions, it's hard to avoid...
2 weeks ago
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Six Reader Questions About Meetings, Feedback, Communication, and Ideas I regularly receive questions over email and in comments on my newsletter. I decided to answer a few...
6 months ago
Scarlet Ink
The Ideal Manager Exercise — How to Choose and Communicate With Your Current or Future Manager The reflection exercise that helped me find and cultivate a successful relationship with my manager.
6 months ago
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Failure is Necessary for Achievement and Growth — Why Success is Dangerous for Learning You can only succeed if you are willing to fail. You can only learn if you are willing to be...
a week ago
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How Senior Leaders Evaluate Ideas — And a Story of Amazon's 3-Year Planning Process Ideas are valuable if they're not simply a desired outcome. A path to an outcome is the core element...
6 months ago
Scarlet Ink
The Six Steps to Saying No — Why Being a Team Player is Not Necessarily Great Frequently, saying no is better than saying yes. Our teams can concentrate on the highest value work...
5 days ago