Herman Ye

No matter your title, your job is to solve problems. Before you can solve, you must understand. Preliminary data will be limited, so it's up to you to ask questions. Putting together the pieces, building a foundation to act from. Problems are often framed as either symptoms or requests. Symptoms are too broad.  "Customer wait times are too long." You'll need to ask "what?" to uncover the underlying condition you're facing, before you can prescribe the appropriate treatment. "What is the support process?"  "What evidence demonstrates this problem?" "What is the current wait time and what is the target time" Requests are the reverse. Too specific.  "We need you to build a new onboarding email with XYZ features." To move forward with purpose (or to uncover if the action is even needed), focus on "why?". "Why do we need a new experience?"  "Is it because of we're targeting a new customer ba...

"But" -  it's   something we hate to hear after receiving good news. "That presentation was great, but there are things you need to work on." "I want to give you a raise, but it's not in the budget right now."  "I love you, but there are some things you could be more considerate with." We lead with the pleasant and wrap with the not so pleasant. This is unfortunate because we're conditioned to disregard what comes before "but" , and place a higher value on what comes after -  "The But Eraser/Enhancer Effect" . Thus, we're constantly dampening our positive statements while enhancing the negative.  Being mindful of this phenomenal, we can leave a more emotionally encouraging footprint by merely flipping the positioning.  "There are things that you need to work on, but  the presentation was great ." "It's not in the budget right now, but  I want to give you a raise ".  "T here are some...

Be it stand up comedy, live music, or a presentation at work. Live performances are a dynamic affair featuring two parties, the performer and the audience. The spotlight is naturally on the performer with the audiences' role largely overlooked.  It doesn't appear so at first, but the audience is a co-lead. Having given my fair share of presentations, I've felt the impact of a well-timed question or comment. Whether affirmative or challenging, audience participation can drastically shift the way I feel and how I'll proceed.  Non-verbal actions are equally strong. Passive participation is anything but. A nod goes a long way in assuring me. A questioning look makes me pause. Checking your phone makes me second guess the interest. As audience members, we think we're invisible. We're not. We're in it together.  So much in the study of influence is on achieving what we don't have but it's important to be mindful of the influence we already do have. If we...

The grand reveal. Where the covers are dramatically pulled off and gasps ripples across the crowd. Sometimes a sound of joy. Other times, not so much. Whether good or bad, the unknown always adds a touch of drama to it all.     While the "Ta-Da" moment is great TV, it's not so great for the workplace. Quite the opposite, it's a sign of failed communication and a lack of teamwork.  When leading an initiative, its best to keep folks involved early and often. The cadence and level of detail will vary, but erring on the side of over-communication is a good starting point while you gauge what's appropriate.    Keeping folks in the loop reduces the risk of expectations diverging. Maintaining aim at the same target. Transparency opens the floor for constructive feedback. Unique skills and perspectives will remain untapped in a silo. In addition to the sense of ownership and accountability of others.  The need for perfection is a common culprit for the big rev...

Early into my career, I realized I was clueless about personal finance. My employer offered me options for a retirement plan and this paralyzed me with doubt. I was deeply intimidated by all the choices, acronyms and numbers. I didn't know where to start; despite going to school for accounting, which only added more egg to my face.  I dove into the space to build my confidence. Once I got going, I realized it wasn't that hard. I started to enjoy learning about taxes, planning, and investing. It was empowering. I felt ownership over my financial life. As a way to reinforce and share learnings, I began blogging. I figured learning in public was a good way to test ideas, get feedback, and help folks in similar shoes.  I was focused on writing, but soon it became clear that my blog looked pretty dull with just text. I needed cover art to give my content some pop, some character, some life.  I started with stock images from Unsplash , but soon this felt unoriginal and limiting...

With Zoom, it's so easy hop from one meeting to the next. We present and get presented with ideas all day long. It's no wonder when the floor opens up for questions, the room falls silent. Silence is often taken as agreement. " No one is outright challenging me, so we must be good!"  Even when presented with an idea that team members are wary of, no one raises their hand. They are unsure and rather not get their hands dirty. This is mistaken as consensus and initiatives move forward with unmotivated squads.  To avoid this trap, companies like Intel and Amazon use " Disagree & Commit ", where each person need to proactively declare their commitment before proceeding, if they don't, explain why. The goal is not consensus. This is impractical for any healthy team where diverse opinions are encouraged. The point is to create an environment where all the relevant information is shared, getting us closer to the truth.  Not everyone will fully agree with th...

Bias for action. Gets things done. Go-getter. Traits companies big and small look for. And for good reason, you're being hired to do things! However, action is a secondary step that often overshadows the primary step, direction.   Clear direction is the foundation that enables our actions to takeoff. Without it, we're stuck in the mud.  Striving for clarity is an underrated skill. Having the courage to ask ( seemingly ) obvious questions, and to check in, making sure we're all on the same page. "O bvious " questions are a low risk, high reward way to add value. At worst, you'll add confidence to our actions. At best, you discover a misalignment that saves us from a dead-end.  The more people, the more clear we need to be. The bigger the initiative, the bigger the risk of reaching the finish line, only to realize expectations were off.  Success is always uncertain. But we can be certain about what we want and what everyone's job is. Things that can be clea...

The words "always" and "never" are so popular in daily conversation, despite few situations being truly deserving of the adverbs.  When getting passed over for a promotion:  "My work is always overlooked" When arguing with your spouse:  "You never do the dishes" Always means at all times . Never means at no time ever . Even if rare, I'm sure there was a time you got a pat on the back and your spouse cleaned up after eating.  We exaggerate to emphasize. To drive home a point. We don't mean to be dishonest, but to exaggerate is to say something false. A poor foundation for communication.  If a co-worker's late for a meeting, it's unproductive to accuse them of " never being on time ", even if tardiness is common. This breeds defensiveness. It's untrue and they can ( rightfully ) accuse you of lying.  Exaggerated accusations breeds exaggerated responses.  "You're always complaining about me" they'll f...

A floppy disc to save your drafts. A shelf to access your ebooks. A recycling bin to store your deleted files. These are examples of skeuomorphic design - digital interfaces that mirror their analog counterparts. A helpful way to introduce the new through the familiar.  Skeuomorphic design leverages the past to guide us into the future, but it's doesn't create that future.  If we think skeuomorphicly, we dream narrowly and fall into the classic "faster horse" trap - where the future is only an improved version of now. We predict better horseshoes and saddles, instead of self-driving cars.  Smartphones are not phones with internet, but entertainment consoles and payment systems. Youtube is not home videos online, but a medium for a whole new class of creators.  Amazon started as a bookseller and evolved into the world's biggest cloud provider - an innovation in its own right that spring-boarded countless others. Innovation by its nature is surprising. It's not ...

We admire commitment. Colleagues who put in extra hours to meet a deadline. Athletes who push through the pain to achieve the win. Those who simply "gets things done" despite it all. Commitment demonstrates grit and resilience. A strength of character that is often associated with success.  Conversely, the reverse can hold true. Expressing itself as stubbornness, commitment can be a lack of flexibility and growth that leads to failure. Athletes who stay with the same team despite a poor culture, businesses who double down on a product no one wants.  Commitment only works when committed to the right things. Knowing what's "right" is the tricky part. This is where testing things out helps.  Small experiments with minimal resource commitment is a great way to gather data. Data that can point us in the right direction.  Try out different jobs. Meet different people. Visit new places. Try a variety of hobbies. Unabashedly dip your toes in the spirit of continuou...