This is an adaptation of an internal doc I wrote for Anthropic. Contents Recently I’ve been having a lot of conversations about how to structure and staff teams. One framework I’ve referenced repeatedly is to break down team leadership into a few different categories of responsibility. This is…

Contents I’ve been thinking recently about what sets apart my coworkers who’ve done the best work. You might think that the main thing that makes people really effective at research or engineering is technical ability, and among the general population that’s true. Among my Anthropic coworkers,…

Contents My few most productive individual weeks at Anthropic have all been “crisis project management:” coordinating major, time-sensitive implementation or debugging efforts. In a company like Anthropic, excellent project management is an extremely high-leverage skill, and not just during crises:…

I signed up for a three-hour Gordon Lish lecture earlier this summer, which was to be held on July 14th, 2018, at A Public Space in Brooklyn. It was titled “The Art of Revision.” I had no idea what to expect. It was wilder than I had anticipated. Gordon spoke without pausing once. I wrote nine pages…

In negotiation theory, the best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) is the most advantageous alternative course of action a party can take if negotiations fail and an agreement cannot be reached. The BATNA could include diverse situations, such as suspension of negotiations, transition to…