# Sriram Krishnan - Mike Cannon-Brookes (Highlights)  ## Metadata **Review**:: [readwise.io](https://readwise.io/bookreview/27590816) **Source**:: #from/readwise #from/reader **Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting **Status**:: #x **Authors**:: [[Sriram Krishnan]] **Full Title**:: Mike Cannon-Brookes **Category**:: #articles #readwise/articles **Category Icon**:: 📰 **URL**:: [www.theobservereffect.org](https://www.theobservereffect.org/mikecannonbrookes.html) **Host**:: [[www.theobservereffect.org]] **Highlighted**:: [[2023-05-12]] **Created**:: [[2023-05-13]] ## Note 1. What inspired the idea to start Atlassian? 2. How did the Silicon Valley office help Atlassian's success? 3. What is the importance of trust and empathy in Atlassian's company culture? ## Highlights - Open source did enable us to make really high quality software very affordably to sell at a low price. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06kam0c33jhq3w5anenm1ah)) ^527415900 - We ran the business cheaply for a long enough period of time that revenue was always higher than expenses on a cash basis. This seems crazy now given the VC boom, but it's the way a lot of people build their businesses, just not in tech. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06kf5y4e75wwjeegwqkqks0)) ^527416215 - For example, the first thing I put in is “kid time.” I have certain times of the week where I do school drop-offs, I do pickups, I do things like that. That's the first time that goes into the calendar and you cannot book a meeting over it. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06wt9ymrqz042tdj552nw73)) ^527502529 - Second, I have a lot of interests now. As such, I intentionally have 10% of my week dedicated to work outside of Atlassian on a calendar-time basis. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06wtv4pa3yt5yj8qarwmf6g)) ^527502538 - One of the things that's really hard in a larger company is sharing and repeating stories. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06wx7ee37tcpv024qc4jsse)) ^527502685 - On a team basis, it’s a great meeting if the team seems to have its shit together. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06xdwfbykcmkd0mxwtwb999)) ^527506090 - Confidence is vital. I like to see if senior leaders disagree with founders. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06xdnqevgemz6mznpe0qepk)) ^527505964 - It is vital to instill the team with the confidence to disagree with senior leaders. Not disagreeing offensively, but rather saying something like, “Hey, actually no, we did the customer research and I think left is a better direction to go on that particular issue.” or “No, the competitors are all charging that. Here's why I think that we should hit the bottom of the pricing curve.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06xegaxrrrr1nktcxmpf3p5)) ^527506615 - I like when engineers can pick any area—even those outside of their core speciality/expertise—and go deeply. They should always be aware of first principles. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06xgz4961ryv5bb1dxzaqf2)) ^527507154 - The basics of the decision tree are root, trunk, branch, and leaf. So you have four types of decisions and they vary on two axes in a generalized decision model. The two axes refer to the person making the decision and the information that is broadcast about the decision. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06xt1e64pwfegn7x6hv319a)) ^527508726 - Leaf decision: A decision made without informing the superior. - Branch decision: A decision made by an employee who then informs the superior about it. - Root decision: A decision made solely by the superior. - Trunk decision: A decision made by the superior with input from the employee. - Inefficient decision-making occurs when the different types of decisions get mixed up. - As an employee grows with a job, more of the decisions should move from root-trunk to trunk-branch or - He could only have two P1s and four P2s simultaneously to prevent decision fatigue and overwhelm. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h06xztwk4hx9pt8p9dz7k5zc)) ^527509130 <!-- New highlights added May 21, 2023 at 9:17 PM --> - The second thing at Facebook is that on day one, in your first few hours at the company, you are taught about how you have autonomy to experiment and how early employees did so. Either they physically moved furniture around—to use your metaphor, literally broke down walls—or did something technical. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h0c9pqqrmbwn4h7mq8rddreg)) ^528995696 - I’ll give a tangible example: I personally try to promote—this is going to sound weird—troublemakers. They can't be reckless, but they can be strongly opinionated. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h0c9tjma5cqbs0asgjf4qasd)) ^528996249