# Sriram Krishnan - Daniel Ek (Highlights)  ## Metadata **Review**:: [readwise.io](https://readwise.io/bookreview/27783006) **Source**:: #from/readwise #from/reader **Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting **Status**:: #x **Authors**:: [[Sriram Krishnan]] **Full Title**:: Daniel Ek **Category**:: #articles #readwise/articles **Category Icon**:: 📰 **URL**:: [www.theobservereffect.org](https://www.theobservereffect.org/daniel.html) **Host**:: [[www.theobservereffect.org]] **Highlighted**:: [[2023-05-18]] **Created**:: [[2023-05-21]] ## Highlights - Books on history, leadership, biographies. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h0hyqcwzcse3cdg5dytbm9qp)) ^530408976 - I also think about what my role is at that meeting. Sometimes I'm the approver. Other times, I'm supposed to come with a thoughtful perspective on whether an initiative makes sense or not. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h0hyt7m3pfqn5zb6zcjbt8mj)) ^530409057 - A great meeting has three key elements: the desired outcome of the meeting is clear ahead of time; the various options are clear, ideally ahead of time; and the roles of the participants are clear at the time. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h0hywf3j4m0wddnfeed7mf0w)) ^530409326 - And the combination is actually very nice – having a company where you can move fast because it's not about consensus, it’s about consent. You try to get people to agree, but if you can't, then they feel empowered to make a decision. There's nothing bad with hierarchy. There's nothing wrong with someone saying okay, “Well you know, for this context, I'm in charge and I'll make the decision. I'll try to make an inclusive decision, but I'll make it and I’ll move fast.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h0j0z1gxy6k754z7f6q7dzxk)) ^530431533 - How do you get that vibe and retain it when you're a large company? I think you need to create a space where ideas can flourish and risks can be taken – where serendipity can take place. You have to remove all the barriers to this. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h0hzb5yfe8gbzs70v4fpeqeq)) ^530421709 - What I do think about is spending time thinking about what is important for me to try to learn in the first place: What are things that could be helpful skills for myself to understand better, to be more empathetic? What are things that could be just tangential, interesting areas that have no bearing on what I'm doing today, but, over time, [will] make me a more interesting person, make me a better husband, make me a better father? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h0hzf4gq63fn4hjm7e3vaq1c)) ^530425428 - When you enter a new field, you don't know anything; you don't even know what people are talking about! It sounds like it's a foreign language that people are speaking. But, I know from my experiences – going back to my five year-old self – that if I just persevere, if I keep going in this direction, eventually I'll start seeing what resembles a branch or a trunk, and then a leaf or two, and then I can start putting them together. Eventually, I'll see the whole tree. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h0hzjggy95s5nnkycmdef1jf)) ^530427303 - My job is to try to be value-add. If you think about a pyramid, there's a fellow Swede who ran SAS, Scandinavian Airlines, who said the right way to think about leadership is you're not at the top of the pyramid. You should invert the pyramid and envision yourself as the guy at the bottom. You are there to enable all the work being done. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h0j06vdwshx08mvy9wr7qm6g)) ^530429459