How To Win Friends & Influence Decisions (Julie Zhuo) | Lenny & Friends Summit 2024

Introduction and Initial Challenge

• The goal of the discussion is to explore how to win friends and influence decisions, with a focus on a five-step process to achieve better outcomes in prioritization decisions 21s.
• As a design leader, the initial thought was that the job was to influence others through storytelling, but this proved to be a continuous challenge even as a founder 37s.
• The audience is asked to participate in a prioritization question, with three options: an INF rewrite, redesigning the onboarding experience, or adding a new feature with gen AI 1m20s.
• The options are put to a vote, with some audience members favoring the INF rewrite, others the onboarding experience redesign, and a few the gen AI feature 1m53s.

The Prioritization Problem and Proposed Solution

• The discussion highlights the difficulty of prioritization decisions due to numerous variables and questions, and the need for a good process to achieve better outcomes 2m42s.
• The proposed solution is a five-step process, starting with Step One: drawing a circle, which involves choosing where to draw the boundaries of the decision-making process 3m31s.
• The concept of drawing a circle is illustrated with a story about choosing alliances, emphasizing that the circle can be drawn around oneself or more broadly to include others 3m45s.
• The key idea is to consider whether to focus on convincing others of one's idea or to draw the circle more broadly to include others in the decision-making process 4m26s.
• To influence decisions, it's essential to draw a circle around yourself and others, creating a sense of unity and shared goals, and to start conversations with a focus on common objectives, such as making a great product that customers love 5m13s.
• This mentality helps to shift the focus from individual perspectives to collective success, making it easier to work together and find solutions 5m51s.

Step One: Drawing the Circle

• The proposed solution is a five-step process, starting with Step One: drawing a circle, which involves choosing where to draw the boundaries of the decision-making process 3m31s.
• The concept of drawing a circle is illustrated with a story about choosing alliances, emphasizing that the circle can be drawn around oneself or more broadly to include others 3m45s.
• The key idea is to consider whether to focus on convincing others of one's idea or to draw the circle more broadly to include others in the decision-making process 4m26s.
• To influence decisions, it's essential to draw a circle around yourself and others, creating a sense of unity and shared goals, and to start conversations with a focus on common objectives, such as making a great product that customers love 5m13s.
• This mentality helps to shift the focus from individual perspectives to collective success, making it easier to work together and find solutions 5m51s.

Step Two: Assuming Everyone Sees the Truth

• The second step is to assume that everyone is seeing the truth, but from different perspectives, as illustrated by the parable of the Five Blind Men and the elephant, where each blind man has a unique understanding of the elephant based on their individual experiences 6m13s.
• In disagreements, it's often the case that each person is seeing some version of the truth, but not the whole truth, and it's essential to bring these different perspectives together to achieve a cohesive understanding 7m42s.
• Different roles and experiences can lead to varying perspectives, and it's the job of product leaders to hold these different perspectives and see the truth encapsulated in each discipline 8m21s.
• This challenge is not limited to product managers or leaders, but also applies to teams with different optimization goals, such as growth and retention versus revenue, which can sometimes be at odds 8m36s.
• When discussing different perspectives, it's essential to acknowledge that everyone sees a version of the truth, and it's our job to put these versions together towards the greater good 9m12s.
• Acknowledging the valuable insights each person brings to the table helps them feel heard and see everyone else's perspective 9m51s.

Uncovering Individual Truths and Asking Powerful Questions

• To uncover where each person sees the truth, it's helpful to ask powerful questions, such as "what would have to be true for us to believe that we should do feature A or B?" 10m37s.
• Another way to ask this question is "if you're advocating for B, what would convince you that A is actually better for the goal we both aligned on?" 11m0s.
• When deciding which project to prioritize, it's essential to consider the potential consequences of not addressing a particular issue, such as customer churn or poor performance 11m32s.
• Discussing extreme examples can help bring everyone along and put the prioritization question on the table, allowing people to work together to find the best balance 12m20s.

Considering Potential Consequences and Specific Circumstances

• When deciding which project to prioritize, it's essential to consider the potential consequences of not addressing a particular issue, such as customer churn or poor performance 11m32s.
• Discussing extreme examples can help bring everyone along and put the prioritization question on the table, allowing people to work together to find the best balance 12m20s.
• When evaluating the importance of a project, such as redesigning onboarding, it's crucial to consider the specific circumstances, such as whether a lot of new users will be added, and whether the project would matter in that scenario 12m47s.
• When deciding on a course of action, it's essential to consider scenarios where reasonable people would agree on the best decision, such as when the product has product-market fit but new users are not understanding how to get value out of it, or when a new technology makes it significantly better to deliver the value proposition 13m1s.

Turning Problems into Data Questions and Gathering Evidence

• In these scenarios, it's crucial to turn the problem into a data question to determine if the situation is indeed as perceived, and to gather evidence to support the decision 13m46s.
• Asking specific questions such as "How can we know it's really true that the degraded performance is going to cause a lot of our customers to turn?" or "What evidence do we have that this new idea is going to be really well received in the market?" can help in gathering evidence 14m3s.
• Data can be any information that provides context to the questions, including quantitative data, customer feedback, sales insights, or internal surveys 15m0s.
• Gathering evidence can help in understanding whether the situation is indeed as perceived, and in making informed decisions, such as in the case of degraded performance, onboarding, or employee satisfaction 15m26s.
• In the case of degraded performance, questions to ask include "Has our performance been getting worse?" and "Have we seen that correlate with churn in the customer base?" 15m35s.
• For onboarding, good questions to ask include "Are we really adding a lot of new users in the next quarter?" and "What is the current retention and what's good retention look like for our app in the marketplace?" 16m32s.
• Understanding the current situation, including the number of users, expected user growth, and employee satisfaction, can provide evidence to support or refute the perceived scenario 16m10s.

Examples of Data Gathering and Evidence

• In the case of degraded performance, questions to ask include "Has our performance been getting worse?" and "Have we seen that correlate with churn in the customer base?" 15m35s.
• For onboarding, good questions to ask include "Are we really adding a lot of new users in the next quarter?" and "What is the current retention and what's good retention look like for our app in the marketplace?" 16m32s.
• Understanding the current situation, including the number of users, expected user growth, and employee satisfaction, can provide evidence to support or refute the perceived scenario 16m10s.
• Onboarding is a crucial aspect of product experience, as manually walking users through a product can significantly increase its usage, making a strong case for onboarding as a key lever 16m55s.
• Adding differentiated AI can also enhance the product experience, and quick experiments or prototyping can help determine its effectiveness in improving the value proposition 17m10s.
• Gathering insights from customers, such as through customer research or talking to smart customer custodians, can provide valuable feedback on potential solutions and help identify areas for improvement 17m27s.
• Market research can also provide insights into competitors' strategies and help identify potential gaps or areas where the company may fall behind 17m38s.

The Leap of Faith and Moving to a People Question

• Despite the importance of gathering data and insights, decisions often require a leap of faith, and certainty is rarely achievable 18m1s.
• When faced with disagreement, it's essential to move the conversation up a level and make it a people question, focusing on who is the best person to make the call 18m45s.
• The best person to make the call is often someone with the right combination of context and skill, and as a product leader, it's possible to nominate this person, who may not always be the same person making every decision 19m57s.
• Nominating the right person to make the call can be a powerful way to ensure that decisions are made by those with the necessary expertise and context, and can help distribute decision-making responsibilities effectively 20m12s.
• To make the best decisions, it's essential to identify who is the best person to make a particular decision, and that person should be clear-headed, calm, and unbiased 20m56s.
• When making decisions, it's crucial to consider the customer experience and nominate a person to make the call, ensuring everyone feels like they can share in the decision-making process 20m32s.

Nominating the Right Decision-Maker

• The best person to make the call is often someone with the right combination of context and skill, and as a product leader, it's possible to nominate this person, who may not always be the same person making every decision 19m57s.
• Nominating the right person to make the call can be a powerful way to ensure that decisions are made by those with the necessary expertise and context, and can help distribute decision-making responsibilities effectively 20m12s.
• To make the best decisions, it's essential to identify who is the best person to make a particular decision, and that person should be clear-headed, calm, and unbiased 20m56s.
• When making decisions, it's crucial to consider the customer experience and nominate a person to make the call, ensuring everyone feels like they can share in the decision-making process 20m32s.
• It's okay to nominate yourself to make a decision, but it's essential to make sure everyone feels included in the process to drive the best outcomes for the team 21m24s.

Documenting Decisions and Reviewing Outcomes

• Even with a thorough decision-making process, it's possible to make the wrong call, and it's essential to document the decision-making process, including who made the decision and why 22m16s.
• After making a decision, it's crucial to review the outcome over time, whether it's one month, three months, or a year later, to learn from the decision and identify areas for improvement 22m40s.
• Reviewing past decisions can help identify what was learned about customers, the product, and the levers that drive success, as well as whether the team is measuring things in the right way 23m35s.
• It's essential to refine the understanding of what success looks like over time, as metric goals can change, and what may seem like a growth problem may actually be a retention problem 24m12s.
• Documenting decisions and outcomes can help identify patterns and areas for improvement, and it's essential to have a practice of reviewing past decisions to learn from them 23m3s.

The People Problem and the Quality of Judgment

• To influence decisions, it's essential to understand the people problem and the people dynamics involved, as thinking about influence is ultimately about the quality of each person's individual judgment 25m27s.
• When making decisions, there are multiple layers to consider, including what we learn about the way we measure success, how we make decisions, and the quality of each person's individual judgment 24m48s.
• The decision-making process can be improved by coming together, doing better product reviews, and improving the decision-making process, which may involve spending more time gathering evidence or moving faster 25m4s.
• To evaluate the quality of individual judgment, it's crucial to keep track of decisions and their outcomes, reflecting on them to identify biases and areas for improvement 25m56s.

The Concept of "Moo" and Broader Context

• A key concept in evaluating decisions is the idea of "moo," or nothingness, which refers to the idea that the true answer may be greater and vaster than the original question posed 27m2s.
• When prioritizing decisions, it's essential to consider the broader context and potential outcomes, as the question being asked may be too narrow, and the best answer may involve sequencing or discovering new ideas 27m26s.
• A story from Facebook's history illustrates the importance of tasking a small group of people to solve a specific problem, such as the growth problem, and coming up with innovative solutions through testing and iteration 28m23s.

Recap and the Facebook Example

• To recap, the process of influencing decisions involves drawing a circle, assuming that everyone sees parts of the truth, gathering evidence, turning it into a data question, and continually watching replays to learn and improve 26m23s.
• A process was uncovered at Facebook that led to a culture of growth, making the company more data-informed and developing a framework that turned into a set of practices adopted by every team, which remains a core part of the company's identity today 28m57s.

The True Gift and Optimizing for a Positive Work Experience

• The gift that keeps on giving is not solving specific problems, but rather the relationships, learnings, people, and wisdom gained along the way, which are forever and rare 29m40s.
• Figuring out how to work well with others and enjoy the process is the truest gift, making it possible to wake up every morning excited to come into work and solve problems with people you like 29m54s.
• The goal should be to optimize for a positive work experience, rather than feeling like it's a fight every day 30m5s.
• Thousands of decisions will be made, but it's the relationships and learnings that will last, making them the most important aspects to focus on 29m34s.