Thinking like a gardener not a builder, organizing teams like slime mold, the adjacent possible, and other unconventional product advice | Alex Komoroske (Stripe, Google)
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Alex Komoroske (00:00:00): So much of the way that we tackle problems and build products is this builder mindset. It's like I have a plan. I then manipulate things to match my plan and make it happen. And this is a way you can create tons of value. Part of the problem though is it can't possibly create more value than the effort that you put into it....
The opener starts with biography before advice. That order makes the guest legible as a person before the listener extracts tactics.
"] word_count: 18844 --- Alex Komoroske (00:00:00): So much of the way that we tackle problems and build products is this builder mindset. It's like I have a plan. I then manipulate things to...
Uses we/us, uncertainty, or learner framing instead of performing authority.
to hear in the moment I didn't understand it. And I just want to tell you, thank you because I finally understand what you were trying to tell me. And I realized that that influenced me in the decisions."
Accepts praise without shrinking from it or turning it into a performance.
Lenny Rachitsky (00:22:38): Oh, okay. Alex Komoroske (00:22:39): I don't know where it came from. Part of my job is a collector of ideas, and so I try to put myself in the most interesting...
Uses we/us, uncertainty, or learner framing instead of performing authority.
few weeks in advance, but if you find something that resonated with you or that didn't, or you think is interesting or, "Oh, here's a parallel. I don't know if you've thought of it before," just reach out to me. And I love, love, love talking to people, interesting people especially who have life experiences and backgrounds that are different from mine....
The ending reorients from guest intimacy to listener usefulness.