Sun, Sep 27 2026: Getting buy-in & alignment

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 11:30:00 GMT

Consensus vs unanimity: Enough shared agreement to move forward — not that everyone loves it.

Escalate vs complain: Formally raise an issue to get a decision or resource beyond your own authority.

Advocate vs push: Argue for something with reasoning, while staying open to being wrong.

Defer vs decline: Deliberately postpone a decision to a later point or a more appropriate owner.

Concede vs compromise: Give up a point entirely, rather than trading something for something.

Out loud, 20 seconds: Pick a real decision from this week and say, without filler words: "We have consensus, not unanimity, on ___." Notice if you reach for "everyone agreed" when what actually happened was consensus.

Sat, Sep 26 2026: Describing problems & tradeoffs precisely

Sat, 26 Sep 2026 11:30:00 GMT

Ambiguous vs vague: Open to more than one real interpretation, not just short on detail.

Redundant vs repetitive: No longer needed because something else already covers it.

Mitigate vs eliminate: Reduce the likelihood or impact of a risk — not remove it.

Bottleneck vs blocker: The single constraint limiting the whole system's throughput.

Brittle vs fragile: Works today but breaks easily under small changes or edge cases.

Out loud, 30 seconds: Explain the difference between "ambiguous" and "vague" using a real ticket or spec you've seen. No "um," no restarting the sentence — if you stumble, pause silently instead.

Say/Mean

Sun, Sep 27 2026: Getting buy-in & alignment

Sat, Sep 26 2026: Describing problems & tradeoffs precisely