Adam Kalsey

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

Currently Reading

Daily Reading from August 08, 2009

8 Aug 2009

Links to what I’ve been reading recently.

  • The APIs for the Sun Cloud: Wiki — "Well thought-out RESTful API. Includes API versioning through headers. Great reference to use when designing an API. "
  • The Case Against the Case Against Google — "the company was so intent on protecting its cash cows—it derives most of its revenue from two products, Windows and Office—that it was blind to opportunities in new markets. Microsoft couldn’t make a Web e-mail system like Gmail, because that ..."
  • Culture — "Reference Guide on ourFreedom & Responsibility Culture These slides are meant for reading,rather than pr "
  • Revisiting the Software Design Manifesto (and what's changed since then) — "My recent article on technical debt and its positive uses generated a fair bit of controversy. One of the topics that raised heated debate was whether I had conflated technical design with product design, because I made the admittedly counter-intuitive ..."
  • The Delusion of the Perfect Product | VentureBeat — "There is more to a startup’s success than just its agile approach to product and customer development. There is the entrepreneur’s clarity of vision – a customer driven approach to defining the market and simplicity to the business model. The ..."

Recently Written

Your OKR Cascade is Breaking Your Strategy
Aug 1: Most companies cascade OKRs down their org chart thinking it creates alignment. Instead, it fragments strategy and marginalizes supporting teams. Here's what works better than the waterfall approach.
Your Prioritization Problem Is a Strategy Problem
Jul 23: Most teams struggle with prioritization because they're trying to optimize for everything at once. The real problem isn't having too many options—it's not having a clear strategy to choose between them. Without strategy, every decision feels equally important. With strategy, most decisions become obvious.
Behind schedule
Jul 21: Your team is 6 weeks late and still missing features. The solution isn't working harder—it's accepting that your deadlines were fake all along. Ship what you have. Cut ruthlessly. Stop letting "one more day" turn into one more month.
VC’s Future Lies In Building Winners
Jun 21: AI and megafunds are about to kill the traditional venture model, forcing smaller VCs to stop hunting for hidden gems and start rolling up their sleeves to fix broken companies instead.
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.

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What I'm Reading