The Looking Glass: Handy Lists for Your Everyday

July's weekly Twitter threads, in one little e-mail

Aug 6, 2021

Hi there,

I hope you’re enjoying popsicles and midriffs, balmy evenings and outdoor dining. After going through an eventful July with my family (Covid! Quarantines! Ankle fracture! NYC!) it’s good to be back at home and approaching some more regularity.

Last month, my head was all over the place, as you can see from the variety of these threads, but besides a few reflections, a common theme seemed to be: tackle a big problem by whittling it down to a few bite-sized ones. Oh the joy of lists!

My 7 Favorite Threads from the past 6 months

Isn’t this meta now?

Julie Zhuo @joulee

My writing goal this year is to write a tweet thread a week on whatever's on my mind. Everything I write takes the form of confident, logical Julie giving advice to anxious, emotion-laden Julie. 26 threads so far; here's my favorite 7 from the past half year 👇

7 Management Trust Killers

Know them to avoid them.

Julie Zhuo @joulee

7 Management Trust Killers (and how to avoid them) 1) Follow-through Fail 2) Talk but No Walk 3) Flip-flopper 4) Gossipmonger 5) Ostrich Head 6) Ruinous Empathizer 7) Us vs Them Thread below on details 👇

How I Explain Tech Jobs to my Grandparents

I’m a sucker for a fun metaphor.

Julie Zhuo @joulee

How I explain tech jobs to my grandparents. 🗺️ Founder → Explorer Like the well-funded shipfaring captains of yore, promising discovery, adventure and gold. Alas, many die of scurvy along the way. The successful ones change the future, in ways both beneficial and harmful.

How to Give Feedback to your Notoriously Defensive Manager

Feedback is a gift, so give it generously with this handy little guide and witness the change.

Julie Zhuo @joulee

Ever wish you could tell your boss to change something, but they don't seem open to criticism? Most of us stay silent. Why piss off the person who can promote or fire you? But the ones who do this well gain more respect and trust. How can you do this? 5 steps below 👇

How to Hire Your First Designer

Lots of start-up capital = lots of companies cruising for talent.

Julie Zhuo @joulee

Are you a start-up looking to hire your first designer? I get pinged for advice about this weekly, so putting my thoughts into a 🧵. It's a 🔥🔥🔥 market for designers right now, and the short of it is that it's hard, and you'll probably have to try a lot of things.

Bonus: Your Definition of Success

I was so excited to talk with the brilliant 2021 graduates of the Human Centered Design & Engineering program at UW about a topic near and dear to my heart: playing your own game and designing your own rules. Though I’m a bit rusty on writing essays this year, the words didn’t come easily but they came truly. Read the transcript here.

Julie Zhuo @joulee

I had the honor of delivering the graduation address to UW's @hcdeUW class on using our design tools to help us figure out what living a successful life means: 1) Research yourself 2) Invite critique in your life 3) Prototype your interests Full speech: