i’m slow at learning. i invest a lot of time learning the fundamentals of a problem. to come up with solutions i need to understand the fundamentals first. one example: it took me 6 months to understand the strategy behind our Card product after initially coming up with the idea.
once i do understand the fundamentals though i’m 10x better than most product people. i don’t spend time copying what others are doing. i have a clear vision of the path we need to take to get from 0 to 100.
i’m slow at hiring. this is something i need to correct immediately. i keep C-players on the team longer than i should because i don’t spend enough time interviewing and meeting candidates.
i don’t assess risks. i rarely think about ‘what happens if this goes wrong’. i’ve learned that most of the time that’s actually a good thing but there are exceptions. examples are: decisions with long-term consequences or legal risks. since this has been an issue in the past i now try to ‘exploit’ my ideas when i come up with them. i still need to force myself to do it.
i give direct feedback. that’s probably not the bad trait: the bad trait is i do it often and i’m not too concerned with my tone or how i come across. this is also another thing i need to fix asap. i’ve learned that many times my tone matters more than the content of what i’m saying.