Question 1

What are the key takeaways from Will Larson's episode on Lenny's Podcast?

Accepted Answer

1. Strategy exists even when not written down - the first step to improving it is documenting it 2. Boring strategies like 'use only our existing tools' are often the most effective because they focus energy 3. Systems thinking is powerful for diagnosis but dangerous when you prioritize the model over reality 4. Bad strategies almost always come from willfully misdiagnosing the current situation 5. The biggest risk to long-term success (writing, career, products) is quitting too early

Question 2

What does Will Larson say about engineering-strategy and systems-thinking?

Accepted Answer

"A lot of the least successful but smartest people I've worked with were really strong systems thinking advocates. Every framework has downsides. People find a spot where their system and reality are in conflict and they say reality is wrong." - Will Larson "At Stripe, we did a lot of analysis on incidents trying to understand why things weren't working. We got so caught up in the analysis that we lost track of whether we're actually improving things. You can't keep measuring. At some point you have to cut." - Will Larson "Systems thinking is basically stocks and flows. Stocks are things that accumulate, flows are movement from a stock to another thing. A hiring pipeline: candidates flow through steps, conversion rates at each stage dictate how many people you ultimately hire." - Will Larson

Question 3

What are Will Larson's views on engineering-strategy, systems-thinking, leadership?

Accepted Answer

Will Larson: "A lot of the least successful but smartest people I've worked with were really strong systems thinking advocates. Every framework has downsides. People find a spot where their system and reality are in conflict and they say reality is wrong." Will Larson: "Systems thinking is basically stocks and flows. Stocks are things that accumulate, flows are movement from a stock to another thing. A hiring pipeline: candidates flow through steps, conversion rates at each stage dictate how many people you ultimately hire."

Will Larson

The engineering mindset | Will Larson (Carta, Stripe, Uber, Calm, Digg)

TRANSCRIPT

Will Larson

The engineering mindset | Will Larson (Carta, Stripe, Uber, Calm, Digg)

Will Larson

The engineering mindset | Will Larson (Carta, Stripe, Uber, Calm, Digg)

TRANSCRIPT

Will Larson

The engineering mindset | Will Larson (Carta, Stripe, Uber, Calm, Digg)