Book · ~320 pages
A World Without Email
Cal Newport · Cal Newport (Portfolio/Penguin) Paid Intermediate
Newport's point is that accountability breaks down when work has no defined process and everyone just messages each other all day, and he gives you the idea of explicit protocols for how tasks get assigned, tracked, and reviewed. For a distributed team, those written rules are what let people move without waiting on you. Use it to design the workflow rules that replace the constant back-and-forth that time zones make even worse.
- Ad hoc messaging is a workflow, and a bad one
- Define explicit rules for how work is assigned and reviewed
- Fewer things per person, done visibly, beats a busy inbox
