My User Manual

A number of years back, Ivar Kroghrud shared his methodology for helping people understand how best to work with him through an exercise of creating a user manual. It has become his way of shortening the learning curve teams undergo when beginning to work with each other. Since the unveiling interview, a number of people have shared their versions and methods of creating a personal user manual. Below is my user manual.

I. My Style

I'm an entrepreneur at heart. I love coming up with new business ideas. My close friends will hear about a new idea every week about something we need to try to build.
I'm a high energy individual and get energized by others. Other people's energy is my craic. I enjoy fast paced environments. I love it when people are passionate and excited by what they do. It drives me to match (sometimes surpass) them.
I'm a little OCD at times. Sanity is maintained through organization. I'm a hyper organized individual and believe that most people could use a little more of it. This extends from formatting in emails and Google Sheets to how playing cards are stacked (I'm improving).
My daily routine is critical and centers me. I wake up at 5AM (or earlier) every day and get ready for my day. I go to my gym and begin my workout at 6AM. I then get to work between 7:30 AM - 8:30 AM and spend the first 15 minutes sorting out my priorities for the day. Skipping these steps can throw me off and lead to decreased productivity.
I'm very goal oriented. When I have something to chase, is when I am operating at my best. While I like to think I don't flounder in ambiguity, let's align on a goal and you'll be able to get much more out of me.
All in or all out - I struggle with doing anything half way. I'm an individual who operates best when 100% in or100% out. I can be a bit extreme in this, for both better and worse.

II. My Values

Growth mindset - Few things are more important to me than growth and surrounding myself with individuals who value the same. I'm fueled by opportunities to learn more and become a better me. I hire people who are lower on the experience scale if they crush the growth mindset test. We can always be better. If you're not growing, you might as well be going backwards.
Grit (getting shit done) - There's always going to come a time where you have to buckled down and get shit done, and it's going to be painful and you don't want to do it. I believe teams that have the mental resolve to push through any challenge of any size are the ones who will succeed and rise above all the rest. Grit > Talent (of course exceptions exist).
Transparency & honesty - We owe it to our colleagues, friends, and all relationships in and out of a professional environment to be transparent and honest with our challenges. Feedback is the key to growth. Be transparent with those around you with what's working and what's not. Be honest and build trust with those around you. If I can't trust you, how can I have any expectations of you?
Efficiency - I'm a producer / development director / project manager, what do you expect? TSA bothers the hell out of me because they have no eye for efficiency. Things being done sub-optimally hurts my heart and makes me want to jump in a fix it. If you can work smarter, better, more efficiently, who wouldn't do it?!

III. What I Don't Have Patience For

Pride / ego - I have no patience for the prideful. Check your ego, as it's going to stop you from learning and growing. I guarantee you, whatever you think you're great at, I can find someone better. I believe we should be proud of our accomplishments, but humility will take us further than pride.
Not In It To Win It - We have a tendency to attract people like us and emulate those around us. I long to surround myself with likeminded individuals, who are eager and hungry for excellence. Excellence can take many forms, and I'm open to (most) all of them. If we're not working together to deliver greatness, we might not be a great team.
Indecision - We've all heard "the wrong direction is better than no direction". I subscribe to this belief. I believe in decisive action and acting quickly. Potential energy only has value when it becomes kinetic. Be kinetic!

IV. How Best To Communicate With Me

Be open and honest - Good luck trying to hurt my feelings. You may upset me, but you won't hurt me. If you don't like something, don't beat around the bush, just tell me. Remember how I said I value transparency, do that. Focus on what's matters and don't pussyfoot around the issues.
Do it in person, when possible - While we live in a digital age where we can communicate in over a dozen ways without saying an actual word to each other, I prefer verbal communication and eye-to-eye contact. If we're doing a call, let's use video. If I'm remotely close, come talk to me in person. We're humans, so let's be human and interact like them.
Visuals go a long way - I'm a very visual oriented individual and love utilizing whiteboards, or other tools to draw or diagram what we are discussing.

V. How To Help Me

Be explicit with your needs - Don't make me figure it out if you know what your needs are. Chances are I am juggling quite a few things at any given time, so be explicit with what you need and by when. Ambiguity slows everything down.
Provide feedback (often) - I'm a hyper malleable individual. I want to be the best me, drive the best results, and be someone everyone can work with. Don't hesitate to provide feedback on anything.

VI. What People Misunderstand About Me

Solutions of all types - I will often throw out and entertain ideas of all varieties; good, bad, worse, and everything in-between. I occasionally have people make the assumption I believe all the ideas being discussed are ones I am endorsing. This is likely not the choice, rather me looking at every available option.