Subject in the Almanac Index
Leadership
Responsibility, authority, teams, founders, and organizational direction.
The work may be necessary. Do I need to do it?
I used to look at a task and think I could do it better than the other leaders around me. Sometimes I may have been right.
The loop you are standing inside
A loop you have not named is a loop you are standing inside.
Path-Goal Theory in AI-Native World
Path-goal theory for AI-native teams: when agents can build, human leadership shifts from tasking work to clearing the path.
The Atomic Thinking Protocol
The Atomic Thinking Protocol makes consequential judgment visible, testable, and correctable: a reality-contact practice for high-stakes decisions.
A day for Enrise
August 22 was Kavita's birthday. Kavita and I founded Enrise Social Foundation in 2021.
The Project I Could Not Believe In
In 2010, I was asked to deliver a project I did not believe in. That created a conflict I could not solve with a project plan.
You Cannot Compel Self-Management
An organization cannot command people to self-manage and continue making every consequential decision for them.
The credit he gave away
We shipped something structural this week. A change to how people enter the organization. Eleven people came in under it on day one.
The gavel I refused
Someone on my team sent me a long note last week. Real gaps. Product issues, process issues, friction with a colleague.
Indispensable is a diagnosis, not a compliment
I have held a version of this as a rule for some time. If an operator cannot leave for ninety days, they may have built a demanding job for themselves.
The Advantage
Health is not the opposite of smart. It is the transmission. From the Architect, 09 August 2026.
The DLMx Protocol
The DLMx Protocol examines how work moves from intent to outcome through doing capacity, leadership clarity, management discipline, and multipliers.
When Scrum Mattered
Scrum was once an important part of my public identity. I read it, practiced it, blogged about it, and eventually wrote a book about it.
Capability ownership and delivery ownership
Capability ownership and delivery ownership A version was published as a LinkedIn article on May 8, 2021.
Count barrels, not bodies
Count barrels, not bodies A version was published on LinkedIn on April 13, 2026. An earlier Journal origin is claimed in the source but remains unverified.
The Question Nobody Asks You
Ask a person what they most want, and watch the pause. Not evasion. Something closer to vertigo. The question lands in a place that has never been visited.
The Founder Is the Loop
On April 29, 2026, I was thinking about founders who described an AI strategy while remaining personally distant from the tools and decisions involved.
Presence as Architecture: Why BUSYness Is a Structural Fault
[A Note from the Architect] On April 23, 2026, I am auditing a specific failure of leadership presence. The failure is quiet, structural, and expensive.
The Barrel OS: Architecture of Human Velocity
On April 13, 2026, I was examining a distinction associated here with Keith Rabois and Khosla Ventures: people who can carry an ambiguous objective to an outcome, and people who execute well within clearer direction.
Ten Laws of Strategic Command
On April 12, 2026, I was reviewing ten elements that can strengthen a strategy.
The Sovereign Codex: Principles of Command
On April 11, 2026, I was trying to connect several frameworks I had been developing. The useful structure was not an operating system for existence.
Authority without rank
In 2023, I brought a CXO into my team to lead a significant business function. His title gave him full formal authority.
A founder is one influence on the company
On March 14, 2026, I wrote that a founder cannot hire their way out of their own flaws.
Use RACI for work, DACI for decisions
RACI and DACI solve related problems, but they are not interchangeable. RACI is useful when a group needs clarity about how work will be carried out.
What a team hears under pressure
A team listens differently when something has gone wrong. The server has failed, a client has left, or a deadline has been missed.
Talent needs the right conditions
Talent is not enough by itself. It always appears through conditions.
The Ownership Economy: Beyond the "How-To" Trap
Techniques are useful, but they are easy to collect without applying.
Conflict ROI: The Systemic Cost of Confrontation
Conflict has costs, but it cannot always be reduced to return on investment.
Rooted Autonomy: The Law of the Tree
The tree and creeper metaphor can illuminate autonomy, but it can also turn legitimate support into weakness. People and organizations depend on others.
Output Sovereignty: Beyond the Need for Proof
Working only to prove worth can pull attention away from the work itself. External evidence, however, is not the enemy.