436. Principles 🎒
The principles that make for better decision-making
Hi there 👋
Every fall and spring, I teach a digital marketing class at the local university here in town. It’s just the basics, which allows me to freestyle with a lot of fun and dumb examples to keep the class engaged. One such fun example is touring new brands and cool online experiences for inspiration, and I found a great one this fall: Smalls, a new cat food brand. Check out their website — it’s an awesome experience and made me want to order from them … and I don’t even have a cat!
Wishing you a great week ahead,
Kevan
(ᵔᴥᵔ)
Thank you for being part of this newsletter. Each week, I share playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world and my time at Oyster, Buffer, and more.
Say hi anytime at hello@kevanlee.com. I’d love to hear from you.
On the importance of principles
I’ve read a handful of useful money and investing books over the years — I Will Teach You to Be Rich, The Psychology of Money are two favorites. I also read Principles by Ray Dalio, which I assumed was about money since Dalio is an investor but was actually much more about critical thinking and decision-making systems.
What I loved about the book was his approach to decision-making and how it centered on this idea of principles. Here's a brief explanation of how he thinks about principles:
1. Slow down your thinking so you can note the criteria you are using to make your decision.
2. Write the criteria down as a principle.
3. Think about those criteria when you have an outcome to assess, and refine them before the next “one of those” comes along.
This way, whenever a new decision comes your way, you may be able to recognize its similarity to a decision you've made in the past, and then you can apply the same principles you used successfully before.
Voila! A shortcut to better decision-making. :)
The book is a #longread, and there are many, many different categories of principles that Ray talks about. One particular category that has stuck with me is his principles for strategy.
Here they are:
Principles for strategy
Don't put the expedient ahead of the strategic.
Consider second-and third-order consequences, not just first-order ones.
Beware of paying too much attention to what is coming at you and not enough attention to your machine.
Remember that the WHO is more important than the WHAT
All of your "must-dos" must be above the bar before you do your "like-to-dos."
These have been useful for me as I've weighed strategic decisions at work. I’ve added a few personal ones to the list as well …
Delight in the journey.
Never forget where you’re going … and why you’re going there.
Choose the right outcomes, and you’ll find the right output.
When in doubt, go with the true and the novel.
Over to you
What are the principles that guide your strategic decision-making? It’d be great to hear your thoughts.
About this newsletter …
Hi, I’m Kevan, a marketing exec based in Boise, Idaho, who specializes in startup marketing and brand-building. I previously built brands at Oyster, Buffer, and Vox. Each week, I share playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world. Not yet subscribed? No worries. You can check out the archive, or sign up below:
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