The Full Stack Leader

You might already be familiar with the concept of purpose—whether via Daniel Pink’s Drive framework of mastery, autonomy, and purpose or through the lens of pop-psych tools like ikigai.

The basic prompt is, “How do I find meaning in my work?”

In this post, I’ll share how I use “Top 3” format to connect my work to levels of meaning: my career, the team or product area, to a company and industry.

Based on the fact that most of us can only focus on 1–3 things at a time. The short format also enforces focus: working within constraints—a system thinking technique to work faster and smarter by limiting work in progress.

The simple “Top 3” format grounds my work inside a bigger frame—working up from individual goals to the big picture—and helps me align, plan, and measure how I’m doing along the way.

(Other metaphors include concentric circles, levels of altitude, or “laddering up.”)

I might ask myself or a team member: “How do you view your role on the team, the role of the team in the company, and the company’s role on a bigger scale?”

In a product team, I might listen for stories that connect directly to customer needs—how we solve their problems.

Not only new features or bigger-faster-better but removing friction and pain points to create delightful experiences. “What is the fundamental human need our products and services are solving for? Why does that matter?”

Summary: Use a simple “Top 3” format to focus, speed up delivery, and align personal goals with a wider purpose.

See also: “Top 10” by Jason Cohen.