David Adrian

Mantras

  1. Almost nothing is truly required for nearly everything.
  2. Don’t do something now if you’re able to put it off and do it better later.
  3. Many things are only controversial if you act like they’re controversial.
  4. The best prioritization is strong and shared conviction in a direction.
  5. It is always good to remove requirements that are bad.
  6. Figuring out how to run the thing is building the thing.
  7. The politics are so high because the stakes are so low.
  8. Raising the bar is usually a good thing.
  9. Doing less work is generally better than doing more work.
  10. It’s better to make things better than to not make things better.
  11. It’s good to be good at things.
  12. Be direct and ask the quiet part out loud, but like, fun.
  13. Prefer strategies that result in step changes rather than incremental changes
  14. Have the serenity to accept what you can’t change. It is what it is. But you have more agency than you realize, so make sure you actually apply your courage to change things where you can.
  15. Any two things are two completely different things.
  16. You can increase state/bureaucratic capacity by reducing rules.
  17. Sometimes you just have to define the game and let God sort ’em out.
  18. Belt-tightening can’t make you smart. It just makes you short-term thrifty.