Episode · Lenny's Podcast · 2023-03-16
Lenny Rachitsky & Christina Wodtke: books mentioned on Lenny's Podcast
The ultimate guide to OKRs | Christina Wodtke (Stanford)
Brought to you by Miro—A collaborative visual platform where your best work comes to life | Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision | Writer—Generative AI for the enterprise — Christina Wodtke is an author, Stanford University professor, and speaker who teaches strategies for building high-performing teams.
Christina Wodtke recommended The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam, The Fearless Organization by Amy C. Edmondson, and The Overstory by Richard Powers, and discussed Measure what matters by John Doerr. Lenny Rachitsky discussed Pencil Me In by Christina Wodtke and The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Recommended“I really love Patrick Lencioni, Five Dysfunctions of a Team is his most famous book. And I would recommend that if you like the fable style book, but it's the same thing.”
Where to get it
-
Measure what matters
Discussed“People read Measure What Matters, they get their panties in a bunch, they get really excited, they're just going to do OKRs for everybody, but they didn't really read the whole thing.”
Where to get it
-
Pencil Me In
Discussed“So, you also wrote a book about like not that we're going to go through all your books, but you wrote a book about drawing and the power of drawing.”
Where to get it
-
The Back of the Napkin
Recommended“So, the book mostly just has some really simple things you can draw and then it tells you how to use them in business. So, I wanted to make something that was even simpler than back of the napkin, which is an awesome book, but it gets pretty intense pretty quickly.”
Where to get it
-
The Pyramid Principle
Discussed“Your second piece maybe think about the Minto Pyramid. Do you know much about it? Do you work with that at all? The Minto Pyramid principle? I I had a a Minto binge for a little while, but I I moved on to other stuff.”
Where to get it
-
The Fearless Organization
Recommended“What are two or three books that you recommend most to other people? The Fearless Organization. I think that book on psychological safety is the bomb. It's so so so good.”
Where to get it
-
The Overstory
Recommended“For fiction, I loved The Overstory. It's about trees, and it's mind-blowing and so good. Um I'm going to leave it at that.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (6) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Well, yeah, it's called Radical Focus. I could have called it Guide to OKRs, but I think what's really important is to learn how to focus on the most important things and make them happen.”
“And you could flip around and figure out what's the piece I need to solve. And folks can find it on Amazon. They search for Radical Focus. It's everywhere, baby.”
“I tried reading The Overstory, and I just like it's very long, but it's beautiful. a lot like Cloud Atlas. If you like Cloud Atlas, you like The Overstory.”
“Just say the titles of your books and where people can find them and then we'll Radical Focus, get the second edition.”
“Team That Manages Itself and Pencil Me In. Those are my three books that are out there right now. You can get them pretty much anywhere, I do believe, but definitely, I mean, Amazon.”
“Team That Manages Itself and Pencil Me In. Those are my three books that are out there right now. You can get them pretty much anywhere, I do believe, but definitely, I mean, Amazon.”