What We’re Reading: How do you quantify impact?
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When Sivan Hermon, Google’s former director of engineering, was new to her job, a manager suggested she abide by the impact rule: “Focus on driving impact (mapped to team/company goals), do a good job measuring it and then communicating it — and good things will come.” She did that for a decade at the tech powerhouse, winning several leadership awards along the way.
Hermon says there is no shortcut to articulating impact; you just need to put in the work. Her methods certainly reverberate during a week where the world celebrates International Women’s Day and the accomplishments of she-roes like Hermon, who lead teams, break barriers and impact change. For more kick-ass stories about the power of women, check out this list.
We are also coming upon the solemn anniversary of the March 11, 2020, worldwide notice of the Covid-19 pandemic. I’ll never forget a specific moment from that time: talking with Dwyane Wade about the “weird illness” spreading around the world while we watched a thick throng of players hit the spades tables just after the NBA All-Star game in Chicago. When we entered they gave us a squirt of NBA-branded sanitizer. A few weeks later? The world shut down.
What’s your defining memory of the early aughts of Covid-19? Write and share it on Medium while adding the tag “pandemic stories.” Those recollections are history. Let’s make sure the rough draft gets written right.
P.S. C’mon and join us over on Mastodon, a new social media available for Medium members.
Thanks for being here.
Adrienne Gibbs
Director, Creator Growth @medium
Here’s what we’re reading this weekend…
“How to Survive the Stupid Spring Forward of Daylight Savings Time” by Robert Roy Britt, a journalist and author of “Make Sleep Your Superpower”
Scientists say we should end Daylight Saving Time and switch to permanent Standard Time. Congress disagrees. Here’s how you can best sleep through the debate.
“Use Feedback to Break Biases and Think More Clearly,” by Kim Scott, author of “Radical Candor” and “Just Work”
Gender or racial or political biases need interrupting
“It’s International Women’s Day and Quantum Has a Long Way to Go,” by Quantum Developer Advocate at IBM Abby Mitchell
It’s getting tiring, being a woman in tech. And today, on international women’s day, I want to explain why.
“The Grim History of Slut Shaming,” by author and illustrator Carlyn Beccia
From Cleopatra to Charity Girls, sluts have always been dangerous creatures.
“I Asked Leading Covid Scientists- Off The Record- About the Virus Origins and Lab Leak Theory,” by Markham Heid, TIME Magazine contributor
Here’s what they told me.
“Is DALL-E Antisemitic?” by Thomas Smith, CEO of Gado Images
The popular image generation system perpetuates Jewish caricatures
“Can You Get Pancreatic Cancer On a Vegan Diet?” by Professor Brent R. Stockwell, the chair and Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University
An American Journal of Clinical Nutrition report finds the quality of food in a plant-based diet correlates with risk of pancreatic cancer
What have you been reading lately? Let us know in the responses.
