Attention

We DEPRECIATED this version of the handbook on 2020-02-06. Please use our version on Gitbook.

Last Update: 2019-07-31

Handbook for Derek Peruo

Hello and welcome to my handbook! It details who I am, what I value, and how best to work with me. Hat tip for the idea goes to Leah Fessler and Abby Falik.

Location & Timezone

I usually work U.S. Central Time, which is UTC-6 or UTC-5 depending on Daylight Saving Time. See my current local time at Timezone.io.

GPG Public Key

Hosted on Keybase.io. The key fingerprint is 16FB 5BD3 FFC9 A476.

Core Values

Do Good Work
Create “Good Karma” in the universe. You should always feel comfortable telling your mother about what you do and how you do it.
Deliver as Promised
Say what you mean, mean what you say, don’t be mean when you say it. Trust your team to do the same.
Pay It Forward
Empower others to reach their goals. Spread knowledge fast. Teach others what you know. Learn new things.
Keep It Fun
Act with kindness and love. Find the joy. Leave people with happy memories.
Take Ownership
No blame. No excuses. How you do anything is how you do everything.
Play to Win
Winning is very different than not losing. If we’re going to play the game, play the game to win. Crush it, every day.

My Style

Maximize ROI
Focus on value. Leverage your time and money. Use force multipliers. Do less. Find the Objectives, Key Results, and Key Performance Indicator.
Predict and Delegate
“The two most important attributes of effective leaders are their ability to predict and to delegate.” ~ Verne Harnish
Done Is Better Than Perfect
Perfection takes too long. Iterate often. Keep the feedback loop as short as possible. Disagree and commit when needed.
Work in Small Blocks of Time
I break my day into small blocks of time like Bill Gates and Elon Musk. My blocks are 6 minutes long. I fit all my work into multiples of these blocks.
Schedule Meetings in Advance
Scheduled all meetings with me in advance. Shorter meetings are better than longer meetings.
Use the Playbook
When in doubt, consult the Derek’s Playbook.

Work Hours

I Don’t Track the Hours You Work
My focus is on the value we bring to our clients and customers. If you can do that in 30 minutes while sitting on a park bench in Zurich, then do it!
Make Team Communication Easy
We are a global team and work across a lot of time zones. Please make communication easy. Keep your workday within standard working hours: 7am – 7pm in your time zone. Be clear with your team that you are working between X and Y times and coordinate as needed.
Shift Your Workday as Needed
You can shift your workday and take time off as needed. Make sure there is no material impact on the needs of your teams, your projects, or the quality of your results.
Don’t Work When You’re Tired
I expect high-quality work at all times and this won’t happen at 4 am on five hours of sleep. Talk to your manager to get your workload re-assessed or take time off if you have something going on.
Don’t Work on Vacation
If you are on vacation you should not be working. Take care of yourself and your family. Get some sleep. Eat well. Visit nature and unplug. Work hard when it’s time to work and enjoy the time off when you have time off. This is both healthy for you and keeps scheduling clear and clean with the team.