By “power”, I mean the ability to compel others to do something, regardless of how they feel about doing it. As individual contributors, the amount of power that we can wield, as defined here, is limited.
<aside> 💡 Even if/when you have an abundance of power in a given context, utilizing influence-over-power tools is still helpful for fostering alignment, getting buy-in, and maintaining trusting relationships
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These are a collection of my thoughts on how to make your thoughts clear to yourself and others and influence decisions that can’t be easily made in one or two meetings.
The thoughts expressed herein are my own and are not intended to represent the specific viewpoints of any employers past or present.
At the time of this publication, I have transitioned into manager. This means that I have different relationship with power now than when I initially wrote this. But the fact still remains that these tools served me well as an individual contributor, and I plan to continue to leverage them on my journey.
A “Request For Comment”, or RFC for short, is a document used to facilitate informed decision making.
<aside> 💡 Use RFCs when you want to get buy-in or have many open questions
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Benefits:
Include the relevant stakeholders and decision makers