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Adam Kalsey

This is the blog of Adam Kalsey. Unusual depth and complexity. Rich, full body with a hint of nutty earthiness.

Personal

One Year

23 Jan 2002

Today marks the first anniversary of my weblog. On this day, one year ago, I decided to convert the front page of my site into a regularly updated stream of information that I found interesting.

After making the change, I saw my Web traffic slowly climb from one or two visitors a week that I’m sure got here accidentally to over a hundred a day. My Web site is now the number one search result for "Kalsey" and for "Adam Kalsey." (But not for "Adam." Yet.)

But most of all, I’ve learned. In the quest to make this site interesting, I’ve read, researched, and studied. I’ve begun to focus more on certain subjects. I’ve tried to make this weblog not just another personal journal (who really cares about my life anyway) or an incestuous linkfest to other blogs.

So thank you all for joining me over the last year. I’m flattered that my interests and thoughts are interesting enough that you want to read them. I just hope I can live up to that and stay interesting.

Recently Written

Should individual people have OKRs?
May 14: A good OKR describes and measures an outcome, but it can be challenging to create an outcome-focused OKR for an individual.
10 OKR traps and how to avoid them
May 8: I’ve helped lots of teams implement OKRs or fix a broken OKR process. Here are the 10 most common problems I see, and what to do instead.
AI is Smart, But Wisdom Requires Judgement
May 3: AI can process data at lightning speed, but wisdom comes from human judgment—picking the best imperfect option when facts alone don’t point the way.
Decoding Product Leadership Titles
Mar 18: Not all product leadership titles mean what they sound like. ‘Head of Product’ can mean anything from a senior PM to a true VP. Here’s how to tell the difference.
What branding can teach about culture
Jan 8: Culture is your company’s point of view in action—a framework guiding behavior, even in the unknown. You can’t copy it; it must reflect your unique perspective.
Think Systems, not Symptoms
Dec 15: Piecemeal process creation frustrates teams and slows work. Stop patching problems and start solving systems. Adopting a systems thinking approach helps you design processes that are efficient, aligned with goals, and truly add value.
Your Policies Aren’t Your Culture
Dec 13: Policies guide behavior, but culture is the lived norms and values of your team. Policies reflect culture -- they don’t define it. Netflix’s parental leave shift didn’t change its culture of freedom and responsibility. It clarified how to live it.
Lighten Your Process Burden
Dec 7: Everyone hates oppressive processes, but somehow we keep managing to create them.

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