Months 8-9 Detailed Schedule

Weeks 29-34: Phase 3B - People & Operations

Phase 3A gave you leadership philosophy. Phase 3B gives you management SKILLS - the practical day-to-day of developing people, building culture, and understanding how work actually flows through systems.

How to Use This Schedule

Daily Time Commitment: 30-60 minutes

• Morning option: During baby’s first nap
• Evening option: After baby’s bedtime
• Split option: 15 min morning + 15-30 min evening

Flexibility Rules:

• Miss a day? Just continue where you left off
• Behind schedule? Skip optional items (marked with *)
• Ahead? Move to next day or go deeper on current material

Icons:

• :movie_camera: Video/Course
• :books: Reading
• :headphones: Audiobook-friendly
• :memo: Writing/Reflection
• :wrench: Setup task
• :brain: AI practice
• :zap: Quick task (< 15 min)

Phase 3B Overview

Week 29: First, Break All the Rules

Goal: Complete “First, Break All the Rules” + Understand strengths-based management

Day 197 (Monday)

TED Talk: What Great Managers Do

Why This Book First:

• Based on 80,000+ manager interviews by Gallup
• The foundational research on what actually works
• Every subsequent management book references this research

The Core Question:

“What do the world’s best managers do differently?”

Day 198 (Tuesday)

The 12 Questions That Measure Engagement:

These questions, in order, predict team performance better than any other metric:

Key Insight:

You must climb the mountain in order. Questions 1-6 must be answered “yes” before 7-12 matter.

Day 199 (Wednesday)

Talent vs. Skills vs. Knowledge:

Examples:

The Implication:

Hire for talent. You can teach the rest.

Great Managers Know:

• Everyone is different
• You can’t fix weaknesses, only manage around them
• You can grow strengths infinitely

Day 200 (Thursday)

Key #2: Define the Right Outcomes, Not Steps

Why Outcomes, Not Steps:

• Different talents require different paths
• Control kills engagement
• Results matter more than methods

The Restaurant Example:

• Average manager: “Smile within 3 seconds, say these exact words”
• Great manager: “Make guests feel welcome. Use your personality.”

AI prompt:

Help me identify my top 5 strengths using these questions:
1. What activities make me lose track of time?
2. What do people frequently ask me to help with?
3. What do I do that feels effortless but others find hard?
4. What did I love doing as a child?
5. When do I feel most "in the zone"?

Based on my answers, what recurring patterns do you see?

Day 201 (Friday)

Key #3: Focus on Strengths, Not Weaknesses

The Conventional Wisdom:

• Identify weaknesses
• Create development plans to fix them
• Well-rounded = better

The Research Reality:

• Fixing weaknesses gets you to average
• Developing strengths gets you to excellent
• The best performers are “spiky” not round

Managing Weaknesses:

Your Strengths Inventory:

List 3-5 activities where you:

1. Feel energized, not drained: _________________
2. Learn quickly: _________________
3. Produce excellent results: _________________
4. Lose track of time: _________________

Day 202 (Saturday) - Lighter Day

Key #4: Find the Right Fit, Not the Next Rung

The Ladder Myth:

• Success = climbing up
• The best individual contributor should become manager
• Higher = better

The Reality:

• Great salespeople often become terrible sales managers
• The best fit isn’t always up
• “Prestige” roles can destroy performance

Career Paths That Work:

Questions for Role Fit:

1. Does this role use my top strengths daily?
2. Am I energized or drained at the end of the day?
3. Does success here look like success to me?

Day 203 (Sunday) - Review + Transition

First, Break All the Rules Summary:

The Revolution:

Great managers don’t try to change people. They try to identify and then unleash what’s already there.

Week 29 Checkpoint

Before moving to Week 30, you should have:

• Watched Marcus Buckingham’s TED Talk
• Read “First, Break All the Rules”
• Written down the 12 Questions
• Completed your strengths inventory
• Created 5+ flashcards
• Obtained “Nine Lies About Work”

Self-Assessment: Apply the 12 Questions to yourself

Rate each question 1-5 for your current/most recent role:

Week 30: Nine Lies About Work

Goal: Complete “Nine Lies About Work” + Challenge conventional management wisdom

Day 204 (Monday)

The Core Premise:

Most of what we believe about work is wrong. The “best practices” don’t work. Here’s what does.

Lie #1: People care which COMPANY they work for

Truth: People care which TEAM they’re on

The Research:

• Engagement varies more WITHIN companies than between them
• The same company can have great and terrible teams
• Your team leader matters more than your CEO

Implications:

• Stop worrying about “company culture”
• Start building team culture
• Your immediate environment = your experience

Day 205 (Tuesday)

Lie #2: The best PLAN wins

Truth: The best INTELLIGENCE wins

Key Insight:

Plans are static. Reality is dynamic. The best organizations build information systems, not planning systems.

Lie #3: The best companies cascade GOALS

Truth: The best companies cascade MEANING

The Problem with Goal Cascading:

• Goals become disconnected from purpose
• People game the metrics
• The “why” gets lost in the “what”

Instead:

• Cascade meaning and context
• Let teams set their own goals
• Connect daily work to larger purpose

Day 206 (Wednesday)

Lie #4: The best people are WELL-ROUNDED

Truth: The best people are SPIKY

Well-Rounded Person:          Spiky Person:
    ___________                    *
   /           \                  /|\
  |   Average   |                / | \
  |  at most    |      vs.      /  |  \
  |   things    |              /___|___\
   \___________/               (peaks + valleys)

The Evidence:

• Top performers have extreme strengths (and weaknesses)
• Averaging out creates mediocrity
• Great teams combine different spikes

AI prompt:

Help me identify where I'm "spiky" - where my abilities are unusually high:

1. What tasks do I complete much faster than others?
2. What problems do people specifically come to me for?
3. What do I find easy that others find hard?
4. Where do I have unusual depth of knowledge or ability?

Also help me identify my valleys - areas where I'm significantly below average. How might I partner with others to compensate?

Lie #5: People need FEEDBACK

Truth: People need ATTENTION

The Research:

• Positive attention on strengths = 30x improvement
• Negative attention on weaknesses = barely moves the needle
• Employees want check-ins, not evaluations

The Check-In Model:

Weekly, ask:

1. What are your priorities this week?
2. How can I help?
3. What did you love about last week?

Day 207 (Thursday)

Lie #6: People can reliably RATE others

Truth: People can only reliably rate their OWN EXPERIENCE

The Idiosyncratic Rater Effect:

• Your rating of someone says more about YOU than about THEM
• 62% of a rating reflects the rater, not the ratee
• Performance reviews measure the reviewer’s patterns

Implications:

• 360-degree feedback is mostly noise
• Ratings should measure outcomes, not perceptions
• Ask: “Would you always want this person on your team?” (Yes/No)

Lie #7: People have POTENTIAL

Truth: People have MOMENTUM

Better Questions:

• Not: “Is this person high potential?”
• But: “Is this person growing right now?”

Momentum = mass x velocity

• Mass: Current skills and knowledge
• Velocity: Rate of growth

Day 208 (Friday)

Lie #8: Work-life BALANCE matters most

Truth: LOVE-IN-WORK matters most

The research surprise:

• It’s not about hours worked
• It’s about whether you love SOME of what you do
• 20% threshold: If 20% of your work is love, you’ll thrive

The Question:

“Did you have a chance to use your strengths every day?”

Not: “Did you work 40 hours?” But: “Did you do things you love?”

Lie #9: LEADERSHIP is a thing

Truth: FOLLOWING is a thing

We can’t define leadership, but we can define following:

Why Do People Follow?

1. They feel you see THEM as individuals
2. They feel part of something BIGGER
3. They trust you’ll keep them SAFE
4. They believe you know the WAY forward

The Four Needs of Followers:

Day 209 (Saturday) - Lighter Day

Reflection Exercise:

For each lie, rate how strongly you believed it (1-5) and what you’ll do differently:

Day 210 (Sunday) - Review + Transition

Nine Lies About Work Summary:

Free Resource: Explore https://rework.withgoogle.com/ - Google’s free management resources

Week 30 Checkpoint

Before moving to Week 31, you should have:

• Read “Nine Lies About Work”
• Designed your check-in structure
• Explored Google re:Work
• Created 8+ flashcards
• Identified which lies you believed most
• Obtained “Work Rules!”

Week 31: Work Rules!

Goal: Complete “Work Rules!” + Understand how Google builds culture

Day 211 (Monday)

The Core Premise:

Google’s VP of People Operations shares how they built one of the world’s best workplaces - with research to back every decision.

Why Google’s Approach Matters:

• They experimented on themselves (10,000+ employees)
• Data-driven HR decisions
• Results: Top employer for years

Chapter 1: Becoming a Founder

The mindset shift: Think like a founder, not an employee.

• Founders take ownership
• Founders think long-term
• Founders treat culture as product

Day 212 (Tuesday)

The Hiring Philosophy: Only Hire People Better Than You

The 4 Hiring Attributes:

Key Insight:

“The cost of a bad hire is 5-27x their salary. The value of a great hire is exponential.”

Day 213 (Wednesday)

Default to Open

Google’s Transparency:

• OKRs visible to everyone
• TGIF meetings with honest Q&A
• Financial data shared broadly

Trust Your People:

• Give more freedom than feels comfortable
• Remove status symbols
• Assume positive intent

AI prompt:

Help me think about transparency in my work context:
1. What information do I currently keep private that could be shared?
2. What would happen if I defaulted to sharing more?
3. What are the risks of more transparency? How could I mitigate them?
4. What small experiment could I run to increase transparency?

Day 214 (Thursday)

Pay Unfairly

The Logic:

• Top performers create 300x more value
• Paying 10% more insults them
• Top 5% should earn dramatically more

Performance Management:

• Separate performance conversations from pay conversations
• Focus on development, not judgment
• Crowdsource performance data

Day 215 (Friday)

Nudge, Don’t Mandate

Google’s Nudges:

• Healthy food at eye level, junk food hidden
• Smaller plates in cafeteria
• Walking meetings as default
• Questions in job ads that attract diverse candidates

Your Nudges:

Design 3 nudges for behavior you want to encourage:

1. Behavior I want: _____________ Nudge: _____________

2. Behavior I want: _____________ Nudge: _____________

3. Behavior I want: _____________ Nudge: _____________

Day 216 (Saturday) - Lighter Day + Start Powerful

Work Rules! Principles Summary:

Day 217 (Sunday) - Review + Powerful

Transition to Powerful:

While Google’s approach is comprehensive and research-driven, Netflix’s approach (documented in “Powerful”) is radical and controversial. Both built world-class cultures - using very different methods.

Week 31 Checkpoint

Before moving to Week 32, you should have:

• Read “Work Rules!”
• Started “Powerful”
• Explored Google re:Work website
• Designed your nudges
• Created 10+ flashcards (cumulative)

Week 32: Powerful + Netflix Culture

Goal: Complete “Powerful” + Read Netflix Culture Deck + Compare Google vs. Netflix

Day 218 (Monday)

TED Talk: 8 Lessons on Building a Company

Netflix’s Radical Philosophy:

Day 219 (Tuesday)

Radical Honesty

The Principle:

“Say what you really think, face-to-face, in the moment.”

Rules for Radical Honesty:

1. About the work, not the person
2. Helpful, not hurtful
3. In the moment, not stored up
4. Two-way - invite feedback on yourself

Day 220 (Wednesday)

The Keeper Test

The question every manager should regularly ask:

“If this person told me they were leaving, how hard would I fight to keep them?”

AI prompt:

Help me think through the Keeper Test honestly:

1. For each person on my team (or people I work with), would I fight to keep them?
2. If not, what's the gap? Is it fixable?
3. Apply it to myself: Would my employer fight to keep me? Why or why not?
4. What would make me a definite "keeper"?

“No Brilliant Jerks”

Even exceptional performers get let go if they damage the team.

Day 221 (Thursday)

Netflix Culture Deck: https://jobs.netflix.com/culture

This famous deck covers:

• Values as behaviors (not just words)
• Freedom and responsibility
• Context, not control
• Highly aligned, loosely coupled

Key Phrase:

“Adequate performance gets a generous severance.”

Day 222 (Friday)

TED Talk: How to Build a Company Where the Best Ideas Win

Google vs. Netflix Comparison:

Which fits you better? Neither is “right” - they’re different philosophies for different contexts.

Day 223 (Saturday) - Lighter Day

TED Talk: Why the Best Hire Might Not Have the Perfect Resume

Your Management Philosophy (Draft)

After 4 weeks of management books, draft your approach:

1. How I’ll hire: _________________

2. How I’ll develop people: _________________

3. How I’ll give feedback: _________________

4. What culture I want to create: _________________

Day 224 (Sunday) - Review + Transition to Operations

Powerful Summary:

Transition to The Goal:

You’ve learned how to manage PEOPLE. Now learn how to manage WORK - specifically, how to identify and eliminate bottlenecks in any process.

Week 32 Checkpoint

Before moving to Weeks 33-34, you should have:

• Completed “Powerful”
• Read Netflix Culture Deck
• Watched Patty McCord + Ray Dalio + Regina Hartley TED Talks
• Compared Google vs. Netflix approaches
• Created 15+ flashcards (cumulative)
• Obtained “The Goal”

Weeks 33-34: The Goal (Operations & Theory of Constraints)

Goal: Complete “The Goal” + Master the Theory of Constraints

Special Note: “The Goal” is written as a NOVEL. It’s the story of Alex Rogo, a plant manager given 3 months to save his failing factory. The concepts are taught through the narrative - enjoy the story while learning the principles.

Day 225 (Monday)

Meet Alex Rogo:

• Plant manager at UniCo
• Factory losing money
• Given 3 months to improve or plant closes
• Marriage falling apart
• No idea what’s actually wrong

The Question:

“What is the goal of a manufacturing plant?”

(Hint: It’s not efficiency. It’s not keeping everyone busy. It’s not minimizing costs.)

Day 226 (Tuesday)

The Goal Revealed:

“The goal is to make money.”

More specifically:

• Throughput: Money coming IN (through sales)
• Inventory: Money stuck INSIDE (things waiting)
• Operational Expense: Money going OUT (costs)

The Three Measurements:

Day 227 (Wednesday)

The Bottleneck Revelation:

What is a bottleneck?

Any resource whose capacity is less than or equal to the demand placed on it.

The Critical Insight:

“An hour lost at a bottleneck is an hour lost for the entire system.”

But Also:

“An hour saved at a non-bottleneck is a mirage.”

AI prompt:

Help me identify bottlenecks in my work or life:

1. What tasks or activities create delays for everything else?
2. Where do things "pile up" waiting?
3. What resource (time, energy, equipment, person) is always at 100%?
4. If I could instantly double the capacity of ONE thing, what would have the biggest impact?

Day 228 (Thursday)

The Hiking Analogy:

Alex takes his son’s Scout troop hiking. He notices:

• Herbie (slowest boy) sets the pace for everyone
• Gaps form between fast kids and slow kids
• The whole troop can only go as fast as Herbie

Lessons:

• The system’s speed = slowest component’s speed
• Making fast components faster doesn’t help
• You must manage the constraint

Solutions from the hike:

1. Put Herbie at the front (visibility)
2. Distribute Herbie’s weight to others (reduce load on constraint)
3. Match pace to Herbie (subordinate to constraint)

Day 229 (Friday)

The 5 Focusing Steps:

Key Rules:

• Never let the bottleneck go hungry (always have work ready)
• Never let the bottleneck work on defective parts (quality check before, not after)
• Only release work to the system at the pace of the bottleneck

Day 230 (Saturday) - Lighter Day

Your Personal Bottleneck Analysis:

Choose a process you know well (work project, household routine, personal project):

Day 231 (Sunday) - Midpoint Check

Drum-Buffer-Rope System:

[Start] → → → [Buffer] → [BOTTLENECK] → → → [End]
   ↑                          |
   └────── Rope (signal) ─────┘

Day 232 (Monday)

The Transformation:

Alex applies the principles:

1. Identified two bottlenecks (heat treat and NCX-10 machine)
2. Exploited them (no lunch breaks, no idle time)
3. Subordinated (red/green tag system for priority)
4. Elevated (brought back old machines, outsourced some work)

Results:

• Inventory dropped
• Throughput increased
• On-time delivery improved
• The plant started making money

Day 233 (Tuesday)

Applying The Goal to Non-Manufacturing:

AI prompt:

Help me apply Theory of Constraints to my knowledge work:

My work involves: [describe your work]

1. What's the equivalent of "throughput" in my work?
2. What's the equivalent of "inventory" (things in progress but not done)?
3. Where do things wait? What causes the waiting?
4. What's my personal bottleneck (the resource that limits my output)?
5. What would "exploiting" that bottleneck look like?

Day 234 (Wednesday)

The Goal’s Ultimate Lesson:

Beyond the specific techniques, “The Goal” teaches a thinking process:

1. What to change? (Identify the constraint)
2. What to change to? (Design the solution)
3. How to cause the change? (Implementation)

This becomes Goldratt’s broader “Thinking Processes” methodology.

The Philosophy:

“Every system has a constraint. If it didn’t, it would be infinite.”

Accept constraints. Manage them. But never ignore them.

Day 235 (Thursday)

Video Options:

• Search “Theory of Constraints explained” on YouTube
• Many animated summaries available
• Goldratt Institute has official content

For IT/Tech Context: “The Phoenix Project” by Kim, Behr, and Spafford applies The Goal’s principles to IT operations and DevOps. Great follow-up if you work in tech.

Day 236 (Friday)

System Mapping Exercise:

Choose a system you know well (could be work process, household routine, or project):

Step 1: Draw the flow
[Input] → [Step 1] → [Step 2] → [Step 3] → [Output]

Step 2: Mark the bottleneck (put a star)

Step 3: For each step, note:
- Capacity (how much can it handle?)
- Utilization (how busy is it?)
- Wait time (how long do things wait before this step?)

Step 4: Apply 5 Focusing Steps:
1. Identify: _______________
2. Exploit: _______________
3. Subordinate: _______________
4. Elevate: _______________
5. Repeat: _______________

Day 237 (Saturday) - Review Day

Day 238 (Sunday) - Phase 3B Completion

Phase 3B Reflection Questions

Complete before moving to Phase 3C:

1. The 12 Questions: Rate your current/recent team on questions 1-6. What’s the biggest gap?

2. Strengths: What are your top 3 strengths? How can you use them more?

3. Which lie did you believe most? How will you think differently now?

4. Google or Netflix? Which culture approach resonates more with you? Why?

5. Design your check-in:

   • Frequency: _______________
   • Questions: _______________
   • Focus: _______________

6. The Keeper Test: Apply it to yourself. Would your organization fight to keep you? Why or why not?

7. Identify a bottleneck: In your work or life, what’s the constraint that limits throughput? How could you exploit and subordinate to it?

8. Your management philosophy: In 3-5 sentences, describe how you want to manage people.

Weeks 33-34 Checkpoint

After Weeks 33-34, you should have:

• Completed “The Goal”
• Understood Theory of Constraints
• Applied 5 Focusing Steps to a real process
• Created 20+ flashcards (Phase 3B total)
• Completed Phase 3B reflection questions
• Updated PROGRESS_TRACKER.md

Months 8-9 Complete!

What You’ve Accomplished

Phase 3B (Weeks 29-34):

• “First, Break All the Rules” - Gallup (4 Keys, 12 Questions)
• “Nine Lies About Work” - Buckingham (Challenging myths)
• “Work Rules!” - Bock (Google’s approach)
• “Powerful” - McCord (Netflix’s approach)
• “The Goal” - Goldratt (Theory of Constraints)
• Netflix Culture Deck
• Google re:Work exploration
• TED Talks (Buckingham, McCord, Dalio, Hartley)
• 20+ flashcards
• Keeper Test applied
• Bottleneck analysis completed

Time Invested

• Months 8-9 Total: ~42-48 hours
• Daily average: ~55 minutes
• Running total: ~250-275 hours

You Now Understand:

• What great managers actually do (focus on strengths, define outcomes)
• Why most management “best practices” are lies (and what actually works)
• How world-class companies (Google, Netflix) build culture
• The difference between developing talent and fixing weaknesses
• How to identify and manage bottlenecks in any system
• The Theory of Constraints framework for operations

Next Steps: Phase 3C Preview

Phase 3C: Communication Mastery

You know how to lead (Phase 3A) and manage (Phase 3B). Now master the skill you’ll use most: COMMUNICATION.

Key insight: Leadership is 80% communication. Everything else requires this skill.

Continue to Phase 3C: Communication Mastery

Troubleshooting

”I’m behind schedule”

Options:

1. Prioritize: If you can only read 3 books: “First, Break All the Rules” + “Powerful” + “The Goal”
2. Audiobooks: Most of these are excellent on audio
3. Summaries first: Netflix Culture Deck + Google re:Work cover many concepts free
4. Extend: Take 7-8 weeks instead of 6

”The Goal is too slow”

• It’s a novel - meant to be slower
• The story builds understanding through narrative
• Key concepts don’t appear until middle of book
• If stuck, skim narrative and focus on business conversations

”These concepts contradict each other”

• They’re meant to! Google and Netflix have very different approaches
• Both work - context matters
• Your job is to choose what fits YOUR context
• There’s no universal “right answer” in management

”I don’t have a team to manage”

• Apply these concepts to self-management
• The 12 Questions work for rating your own engagement
• Bottleneck analysis works for personal productivity
• These frameworks prepare you for future management

Quick Reference Card

The 4 Keys of Great Managers

1. Select for Talent - Hire recurring patterns
2. Define Outcomes - Not steps
3. Focus on Strengths - Not weaknesses
4. Find the Right Fit - Not the next rung

The 9 Lies (Truths)

• Team > Company
• Intelligence > Plans
• Meaning > Goals
• Spiky > Well-rounded
• Attention > Feedback
• Own experience > Rating others
• Momentum > Potential
• Love-in-work > Balance
• Followership > Leadership

The 5 Focusing Steps

1. IDENTIFY the constraint
2. EXPLOIT the constraint
3. SUBORDINATE everything else
4. ELEVATE the constraint
5. REPEAT when it moves

Google vs. Netflix

• Google: Trust + Nudge + Data
• Netflix: Freedom + Responsibility + Radical Candor

Eight and nine months complete. You understand yourself (Phase 1), others (Phase 2), leadership (Phase 3A), and now management and operations (Phase 3B). Phase 3C teaches you to communicate all of this effectively.

Continue to Phase 3C: Communication Mastery

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