Part II of III
The Weekly Rhythm
Three load-bearing moments.
If the daily rhythm keeps you executing, the weekly rhythm keeps you executing on the right thing. The week has three moments that carry the rest: a Monday set-up, a Wednesday hypothesis check, and a Friday wrap. Everything else is shaped around them.
Monday set-up
Open last week’s notes. What shipped, what slipped, what you learned. Then choose three priorities for the week – and for each, write a one-line exit criterion. “Done when X is in production.” “Done when Y is signed off.” Without exit criteria, work is theatre.
Audit the whole week’s calendar against those three. Kill, shorten, or convert to async anything that doesn’t serve them. Then check your team’s calendars: if their week looks nothing like the priorities you’re claiming, one of the two is wrong. Fix the mismatch on Monday, not Friday.
Finish with a four-line note to your manager: this week’s three priorities, the biggest risk, the one thing you need from them, your availability. Five minutes to write. It pays for itself by Tuesday.
Wednesday hypothesis check
On Wednesday afternoon, look at your three and answer honestly: which ones will you deliver by Friday? For any that look at risk, raise it now. Surprises on Friday are how trust is lost. Surprises on Wednesday are how plans get adjusted.
Friday wrap
Friday is where the week becomes communicable – and the single highest-leverage written habit on this site. Five lines, same format, every Friday, to your manager and your team:
Send it before 4 p.m. In a month you’ll have a written record of your own quarter. In a quarter, your manager will trust you more than they trust people two levels above you. The “Wins File” you’ll wish you had at promotion time? It writes itself.
Team rituals
Three team rhythms carry most of the weight, each thirty to sixty minutes:
- Monday huddle.This week’s three priorities and the biggest risk. Not status – direction.
- The working session.Sixty minutes, weekly. Two or three real problems come into the room, each with a clear ask; the team crashes against them together. At McKinsey we called these PS sessions, for problem-solving – the cadence of getting unstuck that most teams are missing.
- Friday demo.What we shipped, what we learned, what we’re worried about. Two-minute demos beat status updates every time.
An optional fourth (a weekly social block) is high-leverage if your team doesn’t know each other well. People who don’t know each other socially escalate to you instead of to each other.
1:1s with your team
Weekly, thirty minutes, theiragenda first. Your job is mostly to listen, ask, and unblock. A good 1:1 has roughly this shape: a brief “how are you,” fifteen minutes on their topics, five minutes on yours, five minutes on career or development – every week, even one sentence. Keep a shared rolling notes doc both of you write to during the week. Never run a 1:1 from memory.
1:1s with your manager
Weekly, thirty minutes, you drive. Your manager is busy and short on context; the most important thing you can do is make it easy for them to help you. Send a written agenda the morning of:
This is the single biggest unlock for managing up. Almost no one does it. Everyone who does it gets the same surprised reaction from their manager inside a month.
Send the Friday note. Every Friday, same format, before close of business. In ninety days it will change how senior people see you.