103: Competence, control, and consequences

You were hired to fix it. You did! Customers are happier. The company made millions. Your reward? They shut it all down.

We sit on a garden bench and talk about those times when you feel like you're being punished for doing your job well.

It turns out you can't mostly change a narrative with data. Your choices are power, influence, or acceptance.

We share real stories, reflect on past mistakes, and explore safer (?) ways to inspire change when truth-telling gets you sidelined. Along the way: multiverse mapping, toddler psychology, and why the best performing landing pages often don't stay live.

Books & Articles:

• Stealing the Corner Office by Brendan Reid
• Power: Why Some People Have It—and Others Don’t by Jeffrey Pfeffer
• Why Design is Hard by Scott Berkun
• Why Your Org Doesn’t Want Optimization to Succeed by Andrew Anderson
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Ramit Sethi’s framing: “If someone is succeeding doing something that looks stupid… what do they know that I don’t?”

Frameworks & Tools:

• “Show the thing to change the thing” – concept from John Willshire
• Wardley Mapping
• Multiverse Mapping (Trigger Strategy Substack)
• Play the hand you're dealt – "Don't start with what you want people to do. Start with what people want to do." – Dave Trott

Character References:

• Wormtongue and Gandalf (Lord of the Rings) – models of influence

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.