People are more likely to reject a polished final product than suggest changes to it.

But they’re far more comfortable giving feedback on a rough draft or prototype.

How can you not have a shrink? This is Manhattan. Even the shrinks have shrinks. I have three. […] one for when I want to be cuddled, one for when I want tough love and one for when I want to look at a beautiful man. - Stanford (Sex And The City)

When you ask for feedback you should be clear about what kind of feedback you need.

If you have written a post, do you want feedback on the punctuation, spelling or commas. Or do you want feedback on the order of things, if the story flows, does the order make sense.

Think about this when you ask for feedback. What do you want to improve, then sit back and enjoy. Some of the feedback will be hard. Some will be inspiring. Some will be important. Others you can ignore.

The concept of Dead Internet Theory is intriguing for me.

The idea that bots will influence what is important so that other bots will make content that focuses on those bots behavior.

It creates a bizarre ecosystem where AI systems essentially talk to each other, generating more online activity than actual human users ever could.

When it comes to expression and creativity, you need to use the simplest app.

Any friction when you try to capture those “hard to create” ideas is lost the moment between “Enter App. Wait. Ohh where do I add a new…”.

You just need to sprint in capturing those ideas.

Always have a paper close, a shortcut to open your notes app, a button press away to record your ideas.

Teach your brain that ideas are important and that it can trust that the ideas it creates will end up somewhere.

You cannot make strategic decisions based on how the competition looks. You can make tactical decisions.

Tactics is winning today. Strategy is winning the tomorrow.

It can improve on existing process. But there is nothing free. If it is content we want, it can make it faster.
It can create but not approve. It is not a money machine.

Trust isn’t built through superhero moments. It’s earned in small gestures.

You build trust by being present when someone needs you. It happens when you ask how they’re doing. When you listen. When you remember what they shared.

These tiny moments add up. They matter more than any grand gesture ever could.

That is it.

Not every key metric needs a project or an initiative. Some metrics you just need to monitor, wait and see.

Some metrics should guide your strategy and inform on which long-term goals to focus on.

You will get outcompeted by people who genuinely love what you only do for money.

And you will get outcompeted by people who embrace change.

While you cling to old knowledge like a sunk cost, afraid to let go of what you’ve learned, change will happen and the world around you will move on.

I’ve seen this firsthand. From coding in the 90s out of pure interest. To managing teams. And now building complete products with AI.

What can you as a founder, leader or manager do to help a struggling team?

Focus on the 3Cs: Clarity, Capacity and Collaboration.

Clarity

How can increase clarity for the team? Does everyone know what we are working on and why we are working on it? Can I make our current goals clear, our prioritization crystal and our targets obvious?

Capacity

Can I make our capacity visible? Do we have the time, skills and energy we need? Should we bring in outside perspective or knowledge? Are we working on too many things?

Collaboration

Can I identify and propose opportunities for collaboration? Can we work together on prioritized initiatives? Can we discuss challenges and find solutions together? Can we commit to reach out to others when we are stuck?

When either of these is lacking the team will focus on the wrong goals, they will be slower and cause friction, work in silos, make complicated solutions and will miss out on innovation.

The sweet spot is when all of this works.

Implementation Note

The power of this framework isn’t in formally announcing it, but in using it as a leadership compass to guide your team. Like good coaching, it’s about consistently creating an environment where these elements can thrive, especially when dealing with changing priorities from above. The framework becomes most effective when it feels natural rather than forced.