Tools & Rules

I have a work and life philosophy: tools and rules go together.

Every time you introduce a new tool, you need some rules to make it useful.

Every time you introduce a new rule, you need tools to make it easier to follow.

When these are out of balance, things tend to fall apart.

You’ve probably seen a cool video about a note-taking app or AI tool, downloaded it, and thought, ”This is going to change everything!” But unless you set a rule like launching it at the start of every meeting or dedicating time each day to use it, you’ll likely forget about it in a few months. Tools without rules get lost.

Or maybe your VP mandates that everyone use the company’s design system. It’s a well-intentioned rule, but if the design system doesn’t have enough components for every team’s needs, compliance becomes impossible. A mature rule needs an equally mature tool.

Done right, tools and rules reinforce each other. Want to keep daily standups under 10 minutes? Give your team a simple template or script to keep them on track.

Take a look at your own process and workflow. Where are you lopsided?

—Dan