Who Am I
I am a problem-solver and love optimization.
I was raised in China and deeply influenced by Confucian values (integrity, respect, humility, moderation). Over the past 10 years in the States, I gradually adjusted to the confidence and direct mindset of the western culture.
I am an introvert. Small talks drain my energy, but focused discussions and brainstorming energize me.
My Core Values
Learning
Efficiency
You might wonder: Don’t you value other things as well?
I do identify with 20 other values (e.g. fairness, diversity, usefulness, perseverance, family) , but as Brené Brown put in her book Dare to Lead:
If many values are important to you, then nothing is truly a driver.
My Quirks
I like beautiful code. I see coding as an art. Bear with my harsh comments in code reviews.
I have OCD. Sometimes the fear of germs freezes me.
I tend to think through all possible outcomes before sharing my ideas. Sometimes I might come across quiet or un-opinionated in meetings.
I struggle to identify the right moment to jump in conversations. Sometimes I might seem slow to respond. That might just be me trying to catch the perfect moment.
Qualities of People That I Value
Transparent, honest and authentic
Self-started and perseverant, taking ownership and following through
Strong communicator — proactive and concise
How to Trigger Me
Steal credits from others.
Make ungrounded arguments.
Block my ideas without constructive feedback.
Management style
Hands-off
I love delegation. I don’t want to know every single detail of the projects. Instead, I want to make sure we are heading in the right direction at a good pace. When I think things are off track, I’ll tell you my concern.
That said, when I am new to a project or team, I will get involved in details and be more hands-on. This enables me to better help you going forward.
Coaching
I like to help you solve your own problems. I expect you to make decisions without me. If you come to me, I’ll usually ask “What do you think?” and help you decide.
More on coaching: How do you coach people to do their best work and develop their talents?
Focus on no more than two large projects at a time
Double down on your strengths
Understand how your work fits into the big picture
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Speak up if you have an idea or question
Ask for what you want
Accountability
I take action items really seriously and I expect you to know what yours are, when they are due, and get them done. I don’t like chasing them but I do notice when things slip. It’s fine to renegotiate deadlines, but I want you to tell me sooner rather than later.
I dislike being caught last-minute only to know that there are more things to be done, which we could have gotten ahead of. I encourage everyone to anticipate risks and call them out at the earliest sign.
Prioritization and Optimization
I want us to be ruthless in priorities while we are resource-constrained. I dislike “Let’s wait for more data” when there are already enough signs to kill a project.
I want the team to be intentional about spending time on any projects, big and small. Our team runs a lot of experiments, so I want everyone to think “What decision will this experiment inform?” I dislike “Let’s run the experiment and see what will happen.”
Everyday I try to think about what’s the most important thing I can do and do that above all else. But sometimes I get buried under email and meetings.
Data-driven
I like data and I am sensitive to numbers. I want to make sure we can measure success, no matter what we do. I like to come up with hypotheses and rigorously test them with data, but I dislike piecing together a story to fit the data.
If you know of or can imagine data that would help the current discussion, please bring it up.
MVP and Iteration
I am a big fan of testing big ideas with MVP. I will always push you to think about: “What learnings can best inform our decisions?” and “What’s the fastest way to get those learnings?”
When experiments don’t work out, I will push you to think “How can we apply the learnings to the next project?”
I am a big advocate for MVP and moving fast, but I also hate half-baked products with broken critical user journeys
Beginning with the end in mind
I like having a clear end-goal: “What problem are we trying to solve?” I am flexible on how we get there, as long as we’re headed the right direction. I don’t marry myself to specific solutions. I expect you to do the same.
Time Management
By the way, I am often overly generous with my time and say yes too often to things. If you see this, please flag it to me. Though I love helping people, I want to make sure I spend time on things that I am in a unique position to do. That’s the way I scale my impact. Help keep me honest.
Communication Channels
1:1s
Use 1:1s for items better discussed verbally.
Don’t use 1:1s for status updates — Email and weekly snippets are much better for them.
If we don’t have a 1:1 for a while, feel free to email or ping.
I don’t check emails often during the day. Please ping me if you need an immediate turnaround.
If someone asks a question to both me and my team and I know my team have the answer, I will wait for my team to respond. That’s how I help my team grow.
I love FYI emails and I’d appreciate it if you label them clearly in writing. I’ll know it’s for my information but not requiring a response or urgent reading. I’ll do the same for you. FYI = no actions required.
I have aggressive filters in my Inbox. If you want to make sure I read an email, please put me in “TO” or “CC”.
Emails are not good for long discussions. I’ll be the first to recommend we do a quick in-person/GVC sync to resolve something. Feel free to beat me to it and recommend it first.
Chat/ping
If it’s urgent, feel free to ping any time.
Short questions on ping are fine but I might be inconsistent in response times since I am often in meetings.
If it’s a long topic and not time-sensitive, maybe just wait for our 1:1 or use my Office Hours.
Documentation
I like well-documented plans. I don’t care if it’s slides or docs or spreadsheets but I expect you can point to something when needed.
Feedback
I love it. I like to give it and I like to receive constructive feedback. I prefer real-time feedback when I observe or hear something and please do the same. We’re in this to get better together.
Meetings
I am a big fan of effective meetings. I will decline meetings without a clear agenda. I am respectful of everybody’s time and always make sure the attendees (including myself) are truly needed.
Meetings are for important / longer discussions.
How I Do Meetings
Regular 1:1s: We’ll try to keep the times consistent so you can plan. I’m a big fan of a joint 1:1 doc to track our agendas, actions, goals, and updates.
Weekly team meetings: I view these as celebration, knowledge-sharing, and decision-making forums. I expect people to be prepared and to participate.
Quarterly OKR plannings: I hope we make these happen with strong pre-work and good follow-up with our teams and partners.
Review forums for technical design and experiments: I view these as deep-dive and knowledge-sharing sessions. I expect team members to participate in the discussions.
Career conversations: We’ll do a career session at some point in our first month of working together — your history, why you’ve made choices you have made, what your ambitions are for the future, etc. These help me know where you are in terms of personal development, interests, and ambitions with respect to longer-term plans. Every 6 months, we will review your career development progress and design a joint plan for the next 6 months. We will review the top 2–3 personal goals you have each quarter (these are the things that you personally spend your time on outside of regular projects). We will mark out a plan on how we make sure you get the time, space, and support to accomplish what you need.
Collaborations
What I appreciate
Clearly state what you’d like me to do and why in TLDR
Explain why this is important to you, me, and/or the organization
Use data to support your request (if necessary)
Win-win
I strive for win-win situations. I want all parties involved to be committed and break the zero-sum game mindset.
Disagree but commit
I acknowledge that it’s not always possible to convince everyone. When agreements can’t be reached, I will escalate. No matter what the outcome is, I will commit to the decision.