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9 questions

Y Combinator’s public conversation with Amy Buechler and Michael Seibel is about founder coaching and hard conversations. The useful move is to name the conversation before it becomes a file of unsent mail.

• Related guide: Before an avoided conversation becomes a dispute

1. 1.What conversation are you postponing with someone who depends on you?

   Pass 2 · strengthened

   Rehearse the facts and the decision you need. Saying the hard thing is not a licence to coerce.

2. 2.What decision are you holding that another person could make?

3. 3.What did you say you would do, and then not do?

4. 4.How does bad news travel in this company?

5. 5.What behaviour would you refuse from a cofounder if you saw it clearly?

6. 6.Who disagrees with the plan, and when did you last ask them properly?

7. 7.Which meeting exists because you are anxious, not because a decision is due?

8. 8.What would a fair person say you owe the team this month?

   Pass 2 · strengthened

   Look at what the target rewards, including a number someone could game, or harm passed to a customer or a colleague.

9. 9.Which targets could reward gaming, concealment, or passing harm to someone else, and which counter-checks do you need?

   Pass 2 · new

   Ask what the target causes people to ignore. Do not drop the goal because a paper has a sharp title.

   Targets that can be gamed