I love a good playbook at work. There’s something deeply appealing about a tried-and-true checklist or proven framework that you can rely on to get the job done.
The only problem? Playbooks can’t teach you how to do something hard.
This week, I read Julie Zhuo’s brilliant breakdown of why we should approach playbooks and frameworks with caution:
Fake experts: Unless you know the author (or are already an expert, yourself), it’s hard to know if they truly understand the topic.
Even if it is by an expert…Expertise ≠ Skill at explanation: “To know how to do something difficult is rare; to know AND to be able to explain it well is even rarer.”
Even if it’s by an expert and well explained…Nuance resists compression: The more digestible the playbook, the less thorough (and likely, less effective) it will be.
Even if it’s by an expert, well explained, and completely thorough…Context matters: Your specific scenario is different enough that the playbook’s guidance may not work for you.
To be clear: The point is that playbooks can’t teach you something new and difficult. They can be useful for simple tasks or to clarify something you already know. But, to reiterate the last post inspired by Julie (1, #24): While we can always learn from studying others, some things can only be understood through direct, personal experience.
Insight inspired by: and her post, Faith and Skepticism. Thanks to for calling it out in last week’s !