The hottest Management Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

The Myth of the Startup in a Large Company

It Depends / Nimble Autonomy • 19 implied HN points • 19 Jun 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Large companies often struggle to create a true startup culture. Their existing systems usually stifle the innovation and energy that startups thrive on.
  2. In big companies, the lack of risk and the security of a paycheck can actually kill motivation. Employees may feel less ownership of their projects, which can make them less engaged.
  3. One way to encourage innovation is to create actual independent startups within the company. This allows employees to take risks and have more stake in the outcome, which can lead to better results.

✅ Five situations where management calls for public relations expertise

Wadds Inc. newsletter • 59 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Public relations is important during a crisis. When something goes wrong, management often needs PR help to handle the situation.
  2. Ethical dilemmas can arise, and PR experts play a key role in guiding management on how to make responsible decisions.
  3. Building credibility takes time. Consistently giving good advice helps public relations professionals gain the trust needed to be included in management discussions.

RTO mandates lead to top performers leaving

Make Work Better • 81 implied HN points • 04 Jul 25
💼 Business Management
  1. Companies that require workers to return to the office often lose their best employees. This is because top performers are more likely to leave when forced to work in-person.
  2. A lot of workers are willing to use AI tools even without their company's permission. Many feel they haven't received enough training on AI from their employers.
  3. AI is creating new job roles that focus on trust and integration. These jobs involve ensuring AI works ethically and is integrated smoothly into existing systems.

🐿️ The Leadership Heist - The Insanely Profitable Tech Newsletter

Squirrel Squadron Substack • 3 implied HN points • 06 Feb 26
💼 Business Management
  1. Treat your executive team like a heist ensemble. Choose leaders whose talents complement each other so the group can execute complex plans smoothly.
  2. Prefer generalizing specialists (T-shaped people) who can step into multiple roles and back others up. Develop them on the job or assign multiple portfolios rather than hiring only narrow experts.
  3. Hire for low ego, title-blindness, and a willingness to pitch in, because the best hires often don’t match every line on the job spec. Be prepared to sift through candidates and make the most of the skills you find.

Why things just work around some EMs

Leading Developers • 65 implied HN points • 05 Aug 25
💼 Business Management
  1. Proactive engineering managers don't wait for things to happen; they take action on their own. This means making decisions and driving changes even when it's not their direct responsibility.
  2. They ask themselves important questions about their role and the impact they have, such as whether they actively seek feedback and build relationships across the company.
  3. The best managers take ownership of their team's results and aim to improve the overall success of the company, not just focus on technical issues.
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The Sheer Stupidity of Sweating the Small Stuff

The Radar • 59 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Broken windows theory highlights the impact of respecting the environment on criminal behavior, where fixing small issues can prevent larger violations.
  2. Sweating the small stuff in management can lead to top-heaviness, allowing unproductive managers to justify their positions by focusing on trivial matters.
  3. Overemphasizing minor issues can distract from addressing real problems and lead to ineffective management, ignoring actual priorities and resource allocation.

The Hagakure #87: One Year In

The Hagakure • 92 implied HN points • 12 Jun 25
💼 Business Management
  1. It's important to build a connected system for your team that everyone understands and trusts. This helps improve productivity and makes sure everyone knows their role and responsibilities.
  2. Staying honest and present with your team is key. Being approachable and authentic can help build strong relationships, especially during tough times.
  3. Embracing change quickly is vital, especially when new technologies emerge. Don't hesitate to adapt your strategy and structure to meet new challenges head-on.

The "good" experiment

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 159 implied HN points • 06 Sep 23
💼 Business Management
  1. When facing uncertainty, it's better to run small and cheap experiments instead of committing to a big strategy. This keeps you flexible.
  2. A good experiment must have a clear hypothesis, provide useful insights whether it fails or succeeds, and be designed to be sneaky so organizations don’t resist it.
  3. Experimenting helps you learn and get clarity when things are unclear. It's a practical way to tackle problems without getting stuck.

Leading Leadership Teams

Suzan's Fieldnotes • 78 implied HN points • 29 Jan 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Starting a business, focus on being a leader right from the beginning.
  2. Consider the layers of leadership, from individual roles to organizational dynamics.
  3. Be intentional about building a leadership team, hire thoughtfully and maintain a balance in team size.

9 Greatest Mistakes to Avoid When Growing a Startup

VERY GOOD PRODUCTIZED GUIDES • 19 implied HN points • 15 Jun 24
💼 Business Management
  1. It's important not to overthink decisions. Making quick choices can save time and help your business move forward more efficiently.
  2. Setting boundaries with clients is key. If you try to please everyone, you might get overwhelmed and burn out.
  3. Having a clear understanding of your finances before starting a business is crucial. It helps ensure you can sustain your operations and pay everyone involved.

Low-drag machines

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 79 implied HN points • 25 Jan 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Startups thrive on uncertainty. It's not something to avoid; it's actually what helps them find new opportunities and grow.
  2. Traditional management practices from established companies can slow down startups. These practices often don't fit their need to adapt and pivot quickly.
  3. To be successful, startups need to embrace an 'uncertainty mindset.' This means understanding the difference between risk and true uncertainty, allowing them to create better strategies and operations.

The Not-so-Lazy Holiday Reading List

Platforms, AI, and the Economics of BigTech • 11 implied HN points • 28 Dec 25
💼 Business Management
  1. In a world where execution is cheap, restraint and reflection are advantages — do less of the wrong work and spend time deciding what really matters.
  2. Don’t just dig faster; make maps that show where to dig — focus on clarity, limits, and redesigning workflows rather than only improving speed.
  3. AI reshapes systems so answers get cheap; the lasting value comes from asking better questions, owning decision rights and governance, and re‑architecting around new units of value.

8 Ways Organizational Culture Kills Agility

Ageling on Agile • 79 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Implementing Agile in an organization goes beyond just claiming to be Agile; it requires a cultural shift.
  2. Having a hierarchical structure, lack of learning culture, and siloed responsibilities can hinder an organization's agility.
  3. Organizations valuing output over outcome, prioritizing individual efficiency, and fostering HIPPO culture undermine Agile principles and hinder effectiveness.

Celebrate the Wins

Tippets by Taps • 6 implied HN points • 14 Jan 26
💼 Business Management
  1. Founders often work years ahead of the company and see milestones as inevitable, but the rest of the team lacks that context and needs wins acknowledged.
  2. Celebrating achievements shows people that their long hours and sacrifices mattered and gives them a clear story about progress.
  3. Pause to mark meaningful moments with simple rituals—Slack messages, all‑hands, dinners, or small swag—because those shared memories build culture and help the team through tough times.

The Art of the Brief

The Intersection • 138 implied HN points • 04 Oct 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Having a clear and concise brief is crucial for successful creative projects, as it helps guide and shape the final outcome.
  2. Sticking to the initial brief is important, as digital tools have made changes easier, sometimes leading to less decisive decision-making and more revisions.
  3. The best briefs are often concise and inspirational, distilling the project goal into a simple directive that guides and elevates the creative process.

Founder Mode: Elevating Individual Contributors

Rethinking Software • 249 implied HN points • 21 Oct 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Founder mode empowers individual contributors by reducing management interference. It allows them to work freely, focusing on their tasks without being micromanaged.
  2. Good founders support and trust their teams instead of controlling them. They believe in hiring smart people and letting them decide how to do their jobs.
  3. Too many managers can create a bloated, inefficient system. Founder mode prevents this by maintaining a lean structure where everyone can contribute effectively.

The Story of Us

The Weasel Speaks • 137 implied HN points • 15 Apr 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Understanding your own strengths can be more beneficial than relying on personality assessments like MBTI.
  2. The Working Genius model by Patrick Lencioni highlights the importance of focusing on your strengths and collaborating with others.
  3. Identifying your working genius areas and frustrations can guide you on how to approach projects effectively and work with a team.

Personal Financial Management can work?

Making Connections by Jax • 137 implied HN points • 05 Oct 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Personal Financial Management is challenging due to low willingness to pay and retention issues.
  2. Acquiring customers cheaply by creating engaging content like a chatbot can help improve unit economics.
  3. Adding extra revenue streams and leveraging proprietary data can enhance the financial performance of a product.

Ours

The Weasel Speaks • 137 implied HN points • 07 May 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Delegating more than is comfortable is critical in leadership roles.
  2. Leaders should avoid the traps of 'I can do it better' mentality or helicopter management.
  3. Embrace ruthless delegation as a way to help your team grow and succeed.

A quick update on Net Income

Net Income • 137 implied HN points • 01 Sep 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Net Income blog will return on September 15th with new content
  2. Posts will now be scheduled every two weeks for higher quality
  3. A variety of past topics and recommended readings are available on the blog

AI Agent Experiments, Lisbon Recap, Algarve, Agency Savings, Everything Breaks, Future of Outbound

Play Permissionless • 99 implied HN points • 04 Dec 23
💼 Business Management
  1. Met great people in Lisbon during a belly-to-belly week and enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and beautiful nature of Algarve.
  2. Cutting costs at the agency through canceling subscriptions and negotiating discounts resulted in significant savings that could be used elsewhere.
  3. Facing technical challenges with various tools pushed for positive changes, like switching to better providers and focusing on improving the quality of outbound campaigns instead of just sending more emails.

Links to Consider, 11/4/2024

In My Tribe • 227 implied HN points • 04 Nov 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Management
  1. The job market is changing due to AI taking over routine office tasks. However, more complex management roles might still require human skills.
  2. Some believe that good foreign policy relies more on talking than on action. Words can sometimes seem like solutions even when they aren't.
  3. Recent manufacturing job growth is happening in places less affected by international trade issues. Many manufacturing jobs are still not unionized, which means fewer protections for workers.

Raiders Fire McDaniels-Ziegler! Top HC and GM Candidates for 2024 Offseason

The Draft Scout • 117 implied HN points • 01 Nov 23
🎾 Sports Management
  1. The Las Vegas Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels, offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi, and general manager Dave Ziegler in a dramatic move.
  2. Owner Mark Davis will need to hire a new staff, possibly with a mix of experienced and inexperienced candidates.
  3. Top general manager candidates for the Raiders include Mike Borgonzi from the Kansas City Chiefs and Ian Cunningham from the Chicago Bears.

✅ AI in corporate comms and public relations: The story so far - get our report

Wadds Inc. newsletter • 19 implied HN points • 07 Jun 24
💼 Business Management
  1. AI is being talked about a lot in corporate communications, but it's still not perfect. Many AI tools make mistakes and produce low-quality content.
  2. The impact of AI on jobs in this field is uncertain and could take a while to unfold. It's important to focus on relationships rather than just media perspective.
  3. AI may change how management tasks are done, and it could help with decision-making and research sooner than it will replace simple roles.

Use it or lose it

The Engineering Manager • 13 implied HN points • 14 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Management
  1. Skills fade when you stop using them, and offloading thinking to AI can speed that decline if you’re not careful.
  2. Stay close to the work with a minimum effective dose of coding, pair programming, and regular dives into PRs and architecture so you keep your technical edge.
  3. Use AI intentionally: experiment with tools yourself, offload only menial tasks, and always do a first-pass of thinking before prompting so AI augments rather than replaces your judgment.

Firing You to Support You Better

The Radar • 39 implied HN points • 05 Apr 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) can be used positively to help employees improve their performance or negatively to push employees out of a company.
  2. Amazon utilizes PIPs in a controversial way, including forcing 'Type 2 PIPs' on employees to manage them out of the business, regardless of their actual performance.
  3. Misusing tools like PIPs, meant for improvement, can lead to unethical behaviors within organizations and potentially damaging consequences, such as increased layoffs.

Introducing the Good Manager Leaderboard

The Lunacian • 230 implied HN points • 04 Nov 24
🔮 Crypto Management
  1. The Good Manager Leaderboard is a new way for managers to earn rewards by tracking how well their delegated axies perform in games. Managers can now see their rankings and compete for prizes based on Axie Experience Points (AXP).
  2. Managers in Axie Classic can start checking their stats right away, while those in Origins and Homeland will get access soon. This adds a competitive edge and helps managers see how they're doing each month.
  3. There's a total of 1,500 AXS available as monthly rewards based on AXP earned, encouraging managers to increase their scholars' gameplay and participation. It's a great opportunity for managers to earn more while leading their teams.

Microsoft Sentinel SOC 101: How to Detect and Mitigate Login Attempts Using Legacy Auth with Microsoft Sentinel

Rod’s Blog • 119 implied HN points • 24 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Management
  1. Legacy authentication poses a significant security risk as it makes it easier for attackers to compromise user accounts.
  2. Microsoft Entra ID recommends disabling legacy authentication to improve security.
  3. Microsoft Sentinel can help detect and mitigate login attempts using legacy authentication by analyzing sign-in logs, creating alerts, and taking appropriate actions.

Engineering Managers Should Not Exist

Victor’s Substack • 41 HN points • 26 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Management
  1. Software engineering managers should not exist as they generally take on multiple roles poorly, whereas specialists could excel at each task.
  2. Engineering managers often were mediocre engineers who compensated by picking up non-engineering tasks and ended up in managerial roles.
  3. Best teams often function well without an engineering manager observing their every move, allowing engineers to focus and be more productive.

Bad Software Advice: Three Interesting Links #6

Bad Software Advice • 164 implied HN points • 20 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Management
  1. Documentation is important, but sometimes people struggle to keep it updated. A funny story shared highlights a case of trying to restore missing documents in a company.
  2. Remote work has its advantages, but it doesn't fit everyone's situation. Personal circumstances can greatly affect how well someone can work from home, and it's important to consider different perspectives on this topic.
  3. Incompetent management can sometimes still keep a company afloat if conditions are stable. However, if situations change, it can threaten the organization's survival.

Leverage Points for solving complex problems

Turnaround • 277 implied HN points • 01 Aug 22
💼 Business Management
  1. Complex problems require moving away from linear thinking and embracing complexity thinking that involves understanding interconnections and dependencies.
  2. Leverage points in a system are areas where small changes can cause significant overall impact. These include adjusting parameters, dealing with stock buffers, considering system structures, managing feedback loops, controlling information flows, setting incentives and rules, enabling self-organization, and aligning with system goals and paradigms.
  3. Differentiating between complicated and complex systems is crucial in problem-solving. In complex interconnected systems, problem statements often fall into categories such as coupled, causal, or standalone.

3 Ways to Make More Innovative Decisions

Ruben Ugarte's Growth Needle™ • 59 implied HN points • 06 Feb 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Innovative decisions are about thinking outside the box. They involve finding unique solutions to problems, rather than just solving them traditionally.
  2. Everyone makes many decisions daily, but not all are innovative. It's important to recognize the difference to encourage creativity in decision-making.
  3. Learning about your natural abilities can help improve your decision-making. Understanding what you're good at can lead to more innovative choices.

Productivity theater is hard to kill

Public Universal Friend • 2 HN points • 03 Sep 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Many workers spend a lot of time showing they're busy instead of focusing on real results. This 'productivity theater' makes work feel less meaningful.
  2. Using knowledge management systems can help improve teamwork, but they often lead to clutter and repetition instead. This makes it hard for teams to find useful information.
  3. It's important for companies to focus on the impact of work rather than just the effort put in. Trusting employees can lead to better performance and less stress.

✅ Influence through insight

Wadds Inc. newsletter • 59 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
💼 Business Management
  1. Corporate communication now provides a broader view of how the public sees a company, which can challenge management's own perceptions. This helps businesses understand their stakeholders better.
  2. There are mixed opinions about whether companies should publicly take a stand on social issues. Some believe there's a backlash against this expectation in today's environment.
  3. The role of corporate communication is shifting from being seen as just a cost to being recognized as valuable for the organization. Skills in data and insights are becoming more crucial for success.