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juliette_chevalier

Green ceilings, having superpowers, and non-Russian Moscow

Published over 2 years ago • 2 min read

Hi nerds,

I salute you from Panama City, Panama - where I'm reminded about how grateful I am to be able to work under ceilings like this one.

3 brain farts

⚓️ Anchoring bias: More often than we realize, our decision-making process is based on one sole piece of information.

This happens in our personal life, as well as in public elections. It’s why politicians will pick one main issue to target and it is why word of mouth is so relevant.

The best way to notice is by breaking down our assumptions whenever we’re making a decision. At first, it's hard to grasp why we act the way we do. But with time and honesty, we start noticing patterns trailing back to what our internal driver is.

And to quote Pareto’s Law: odds are that roughly 80% of your thinking will come from 20% of your information.

🔍 Constraint superpowers: Although service providers are usually tempted to say yes to everything the client requests, it is often counterproductive to do so. Setting up constraints is one of the smartest things we can do when starting a project.

These constraints usually come in three forms:

  • Format: which framework will be used to run the project, how the meetings will be structured, or how big the team will be
  • Time: the estimated amount of time it’ll take to complete each feature based on the format and technologies chosen
  • Scope: the MoSCoWs for the project: the should-haves, could-haves, wish-we-hads.

Clear requirements feel like superpowers because we end up building products that are aligned with client’s wishes and with reduced expectation misconceptions. It allows work to be manageable, feasible, and structured right from the start.

Moscow
Red Square, Moscow. Russia

💥 3rd time rule: If you find yourself learning something for the 3rd time, it probably means you should start doing.

Whenever we're nervous or intimidated by what we're dreaming to accomplish, we often postpone it by diving deeper into a tangent, taking niche courses, or reading blogs for months on end.

This not only drains our energy and hurts our pockets, it's also inefficient. Consumption-only learning may get us passive results, but it will not add to our learning bucket until it's put to practice. Only shipping and iterating can provide the insights we need to succeed in what we're set to accomplish.

2 intellectual goodies

"Short feedback loops are the most addictive drug"

~ @ShaneAParrish

Addictive drugs

"The digital age is entering the teenage lifecycle of the broader information age.

Like a teenager, society is going through an awkward transition from purely physical reality, to a digitally enhanced existence."

~ 8 technology trends that define the digital age, by Doug Antin. Author of the Sovereign Individual.

1 funky audio

The first time I heard Session Victim I went into one of those rabbit holes where I listened to every song they’ve ever produced.

Piano, beats, and tropical sounds, they're perfect for a Monday morning booster or one of those car commutes when you want to dance as you drive. My favorite songs are Never Forget, Random Blues, and Stick Together.

Session Victim

& a featured snack

= Bi-weekly feature of cool products

Clutch

Problem: You want to build your own digital product, but don’t know where to start looking for engineers or technical help.

Solution: Clutch ranks agencies from all over the world based on type of service they offer, where they’re based, reviews from clients, and many other categories. They also do lead-management to set your project up for success.


Thank you for reading.

I found out this week that the average person receives 121 emails per day - so I’m incredibly grateful I made the cut for your attention span.

As always, feel free to connect by hitting reply and sharing a juicy thought 💡.

We all help the curious community grow 🧠.

Best,

Jules 🤸🏻‍♂️

juliette_chevalier

Learning to code is 21st century super-power. I work as a Software Engineer and teacher around the world. My purpose is to empower others by showing them what we can do with our brain, a computer and wifi.

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