Newsletter
Each week I share new insights I learn about software engineering, business, and psychology, and how they relate to each other.
As Patrick McKenzie says "Most secrets about how the world works aren’t secrets, they’re just knowledge unevenly distributed."
Here's to playing a tiny part in distributing knowledge a little more evenly.
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Past Newsletters
Newsletter #28 - People aren't that logical
Hey folks, Your nuggets for the week: 1. Motivation comes from Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose 2. People aren't that logical 3. Pick your ideas apart #1 Motivation comes from Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose Three factors which get you
Newsletter #27 - Managing Up
Hey folks, Today's nuggets: 1. Complement your manager's skillset 2. Ask for what you want 3. Prove your work is important 4. Get others to prove your case #1 Complement your manager's skills Learn
Newsletter #26 - 2020 in Review
There goes 2020. This was the year I started writing seriously. It started off as a way to remember what I read [https://www.zainrizvi.io/#why-i-write], with this newsletter being an effective forcing function [https://www.zainrizvi.io/newsletter/
#21 Help yourself by helping others
In economics class they told us people work harder as they paid more. That greed was a virtue. It sounded iffy. You may have noticed the opposite yourself: * How did you feel the last time you worked on a project
#20 I was Bored at Google
It felt wrong. I was one year into working at Google, one of the best companies in the world. People die to get a job here. But...something was off. I was bored. Yes, the amenities were great. The food
#19 Productivity tips from Jeff Bezos and Hugh Jackman
Ever study something, but when you try to explain it realize that you'd understood nothing? A few sips from the pool of knowledge and we think we know it all! I find it helpful to combat this tendency
Newsletter #18 - The problem solving tactics of top scientists
It felt like fighting a hydra. I'd chop off one head and two others appeared. I had to fall back on systematic principles to get past this
Newsletter #17 - Find the Key Details
Ever find yourself reading insightful advice, but forgetting all about it when it was time to put it to action? It would happen to me all the time (heck, still does). I desperately wanted to get better about it. This
Newsletter #16 - How to Think Better
When was the last time you changed your mind about something big? For me, it happens about every three years. The most recent one happened last January, when Naseem Taleb's book Antifragile [https://amzn.to/34BtNHV] pointed out
Newsletter #15 - The Psychological Safety Paradox
Psychological safety at the workplace comes with tradeoffs. Where should you draw the line between making it safe about their performance, while still requiring people to meet expectations? Slava [https://click.mailerlite.com/link/c/YT0xNTM3NzgzOTE2OTgxNjU1NTE0JmM9dTR0OSZiPTQzNjkyNDU0OSZkPWo3bDh2NGY=.RQ37YVKDZ5JgcFuaNT-dXXxl-N9mNGJpysaf__9y9_M] and
Newsletter #14 - Timezone madness
My aunt has a problem: she wants to join Zoom meetings, but they're all hosted in different time zones. And she can't convert them to her local time. She has to ask for help every time.
Newsletter #13 - Develop insights by noticing connections
In school, did you hesitate to ask questions? I certainly did. It was peer pressure, raising my hand was a big no-no. I didn't want to be that kid. So I suppressed the instinct to ask. And those