Author | Lightnews

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · 25d

A great take on going one level deeper with strategy - "Add beliefs to [Rumelt's strategy] framework. More precisely, separate the diagnosis into present truths and future beliefs." kellblog.com/2024/05/12/s...

Strategy as a Series of Beliefs

I’m always looking for better ways to distill strategy. My favorite strategy author is Richard Rumelt, who wrote Good Strategy, Bad Strategy and the more recent but less acclaimed follow-on, The…

kellblog.com

1

Reposted by Ben Darfler

James Comey @jamescomey.bsky.social · Sep 26

19 9K 29K

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Sep 25

Don't love dunking on execs, but this process of building out KPI trees is super powerful.
Execs care about revenue. How do we get them to care about outcomes? jeffgothelf.com/blog/execs-c...

Execs care about revenue. How do we get them to care about outcomes?

This post was originally published to my newsletter subscribers (12k of them now). If you’d like to get these in your inbox sign up here. If there’s one metric that matters to all executives, it’s…

jeffgothelf.com

Reposted by Ben Darfler

Jimmy Kimmel @jimmykimmel.com · Sep 24

As I was saying…

Jimmy Kimmel is Back!

YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live

youtu.be

1.7K 8K 36K

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Sep 24

There is so much focus put on good KRs that I've absolutely fallen into the trap of over indexing on the KRs and ignoring the Os. This is a great reminder to ask "what 'story' the numbers will tell when we achieve them?" jeffgothelf.com/blog/okrs-wi...

OKRs without objectives are only half the story

Lots would prefer to skip objectives and head straight or the key results. This is only half the story. Here's how to get the objective into the story.

jeffgothelf.com

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Sep 23

I've been thinking a lot about how OKRs scale with a company. At some point, the style of OKRs starts to differentiate at different levels. There can no longer be a one size fits all approach. jeffgothelf.com/blog/how-to-...

How-to: At what level should I write my OKRs?

Here's how to set the proper level for your Objectives & Key Results so you can set goals your team can achieve.

jeffgothelf.com

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Sep 21

Joining my fellow Americans. #firstamendment

2

Reposted by Ben Darfler

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Sep 18

These are precedented times and the precedent is a loud ass warning

www.nytimes.com/1939/02/04/a...

Goebbels Ends Careers of Five 'Aryan' Actors Who Made Witticisms About the Nazi Regime (Published 1939)

www.nytimes.com

34 1.2K 2.9K

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Sep 16

Another great take on KPI trees. I particularly liked the practical visualization ideas for showing relationships, both direct and indirect.

Get started on your KPI Tree www.axel.pm/p/get-starte...

Get started on your KPI Tree

When it comes to focus, goals and alignment, it can be pretty tough to ensure that everyone is on the same page. But don't worry, that's where a KPI Tree 🌳 comes in!

www.axel.pm

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Sep 13

I wonder if you could ask it to write the code to make it happen instead of asking it to do the task directly. Not sure if it could execute the code for you (since you are on mobile) but it's usually better at writing code for deterministic work than doing it directly.

1

Reposted by Ben Darfler

Honeycomb @honeycomb.io · Sep 10

#AIWeek continues with launch two—Anomaly Detection (now in alpha), Honeycomb’s new way to stay ahead of issues. Honeycomb learns your service patterns and gives early warnings before customers are impacted. Smarter, proactive observability starts now.

👉Read more: buff.ly/hakY4jJ

#honeycomb #AI

2 3

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Sep 10

Being data-driven isn't simply looking at numbers and hoping for insights. You need approaches to help interpret the data and then respond when trends shift.

Three Things You Need On Every KPI Graph www.staceybarr.com/measure-up/t...

Three Things You Need On Every KPI Graph

Do you have these 3 essential things on your KPI graphs in your dashboard? If not, you're misinterpreting your performance measure signals.

www.staceybarr.com

2

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Sep 9

One of the vanishingly few clear, practical, and direct treatments of how to build OKRs at the team level. Team OKRs in Action martinfowler.com/articles/tea...

Team OKRs in Action

Rather than cascade OKRs, use collaborative alignment.

martinfowler.com

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Sep 6

I loved o3 for web research. Recently I've been using Perplexity since they have been giving out free subscriptions.

Reposted by Ben Darfler

spacecowboy @spacecowboy17.bsky.social · Jul 19

Enjoying the For You feed? Give it a like ♡ to help more people discover it: bsky.app/profile/did:...

The more people use it -> the more feedback we get -> the better we can make it for you.

32 200 1.7K

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Aug 20

Did you wear your shoe socks?

1 2

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Aug 14

Getting the most out of Deep Research

- Step 1: Clearly state your goal
- Step 2: Provide context
- Step 3: Specify what you want the output to look like
- Step 4: Ask for the research plan and provide feedback

www.operatorshandbook.com/p/how-to-wor...

How to work with AI: Getting the most out of Deep Research

The ultimate guide on how to use the most powerful AI feature for operators

www.operatorshandbook.com

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Aug 13

Using AI as a thought partner (see the post for the full prompt)
- Reason from first principles and explain the thought process
- Be specific in your critiques
- Ask for more information if you need it
- Push for clarity instead of going along with every ask
www.operatorshandbook.com/p/how-to-wor...

How to work with AI: Using AI as a thought partner

Work through problems and pressure-test your reasoning with an on-demand AI sparring partner

www.operatorshandbook.com

1 1

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Aug 9

Attention is all you need in this attention economy

ethanding.substack.com/p/levered-be...

levered beta is all you need

how to win by riding waves you didn't make.

ethanding.substack.com

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Aug 6

Same. The only feature I really appreciate is that it will intercept the questions I ask Google and answer them with AI instead. The other flows I've thought of don't work. Like copy out the text from multiple emails opened in multiple tabs.

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Jul 31

Driving AI at Work: "AI use that boosts individual performance does not naturally translate to improving organizational performance. To get organizational gains requires organizational innovation, rethinking incentives, processes, and even the nature of work."
www.oneusefulthing.org/p/making-ai-...

Making AI Work: Leadership, Lab, and Crowd

A formula for AI in companies

www.oneusefulthing.org

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Jul 30

I appreciate how this mirrors the problem discovery and problem selection elements of the PSHE framework which I leaned heavily on when I reworked the engineering ladder at Honeycomb.

Moving from an orchestration-heavy to leadership-heavy management role. lethain.com/orchestratio...

Moving from an orchestration-heavy to leadership-heavy management role.

For managers who have spent a long time reporting to a specific leader or working in an organization with well‑understood goals, it’s easy to develop skill gaps without realizing it. Usually this…

lethain.com

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Jul 29

This hit reading @charity.wtf's post:

> We’ve spent the past few decades ripping … down and drifting away from these communal hubs. But we haven’t stopped wanting them, or needing them. I hope, … that we are entering into a new era of rebuilding, sadder but wiser.

charity.wtf/2025/07/09/t...

Thoughts on Motivation and My 40-Year Career

I’ve never published an essay quite like this. I’ve written about my life before, reams of stuff actually, because that’s how I process what I think, but never for public consumption. I’ve been pus…

charity.wtf

1 6

Ben Darfler @bdarfler.com · Jul 29

I'm kinda obsessed now with bridge-based algorithms that elevate content that builds consensus rather than just engagement. Twitter's community notes is an implementation of this.

www.niemanlab.org/2023/10/soci...

Social media algorithms can be redesigned to bridge divides — here’s how

"It falls to both the tech companies that built these systems and an engaged public to create technologies designed for social cohesion."

www.niemanlab.org