This post was adapted and updated from my original posted on Medium.com in 2022.

I’d like to share the maxims I have developed over the years to guide my professional approach. (I’m not sure my colleagues would dare label any of my approaches as “professional”, but I digress.) These probably each deserve their own essay at some point but I figure you could at least use a little taste, as some sort of perverse corporate treat.

I use a simplified bullet journal at work. It’s my external brain for notes, to-do’s, and information I want to keep at my fingertips. Among those are a set of maxims I’ve developed. While some pages in my notebook have been cut and reinserted into successive books over the years, the Maxims page is one I always rewrite by hand. It’s a great opportunity for wordsmithing and measuring whether the maxim is still valuable.

Maxims describe fundamental principles of behavior. They’re different from tenets, which, when used correctly, provide a fulcrum for decision-making. Both are difficult to write, and both must be continuously revisited, revised, and maintained.

There’s no ordinality here beyond order of initial development. A couple are similar in nature. All are irreverent and not intended for shiny, slick slide decks about How To Product.

Tina’s Maxims (as of mid-2026)

1. Averages of averages are Satan’s butthole.
2. Achievable != sustainable.
   • Possible != feasible.
3. All band-aids immediately operationalize.
4. Does it scale? Up and down?
5. People will misuse your products in ways you cannot possibly imagine.
6. Design like your users are drunk.
7. Document like you’ll get hit by a bus.
8. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
9. Killing a bad feature is at least as valuable as launching a good one.
10. WRITE. SHIT. DOWN.
11. Don’t leave money on the table.
12. All models are wrong. Some are useful.
13. In optimization models, only Sith deal in absolutes.
14. Fear is the mindkiller. Anxiety is its kissing cousin.
15. Perfect is the enemy of good.
16. ALWAYS FIGHT BULLIES.
17. “Not looking stupid” is a feature.
18. Assholes are rarely assholes in only one dimension.
19. You cannot optimize a system you do not understand.
20. Do not confuse motion for progress.
21. With enough money, anything is retrofittable.