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Julie Zhuo

What Julie Zhuo thinks about management

@julie-zhuo · 43 positions · On ppll ↗

Co-founder of Sundial; former vice president of product design at Facebook; author of The Making of a Manager; writes The Looking Glass.

Julie Zhuo did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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Only Julie Zhuo on management. See everyone on management

8 dated positions, 2025, in their own words. Our reading of what Julie Zhuo has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingIf you cannot say crisply what success looks like, you will not get great work — out of a team or out of an AI.

    Their wordsif you're really unclear about what success looks like the prompt, you're probably not going to get the most amazing work. Um I think that's true for managing teams and it's very much true for managing AIs.

    ↗From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuoyoutube.com 3rd of 22 in this recording

  3. Our readingNumbers offer a false precision: which metrics you choose to look at, and whether a five percent rise is good, are both art rather than science.

    Their wordsBecause it's like okay we got these numbers and the numbers go up. It's like no, the fact that you still have to choose which things you look at is an art, not a science. And your interpretation of if the number went up 5%, is that good? Is that not good? Is also an interpretation and is an is an art, not a science.

    ↗From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuoyoutube.com 12th of 22 in this recording

  5. Our readingManaging change has always been the manager's whole job; the only thing AI changed is how fast the change now arrives.

    Their wordsI think that managing change, it's always been manager's job to manage change and there's always the chaos of what's going on. I just think the rate of change is accelerating and we've seen that over the last couple of decades.

    ↗From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuoyoutube.com 14th of 22 in this recording

  7. Our readingManagement today is the willow tree's trick — being sturdy by being flexible — and it is very hard to pull off.

    Their wordsand that's in some ways what allows it to be very sturdy so I Think today management is really about this idea of like be sturdy while being flexible and that is a very hard thing to pull off

    ↗From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuoyoutube.com 15th of 22 in this recording

  9. Our readingIn the best working relationships the manager is a guide, not a judge deciding whether you deserve a promotion or a firing.

    Their wordswe often also have this mental model of like oh our managers are a judge and they're going to judge me on whether or not I got it I did well I should get a promotion I should be fired so there's this sometimes fear that people have but I think in the very best relationships the manager is like a guide

    ↗From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuoyoutube.com 18th of 22 in this recording

  11. Our readingFeedback should be a daily practice rather than a twice-yearly review, because the team that improves one percent a week overtakes the team that improves one percent a month.

    Their wordsBut feedback really in my mind ideally should be like a daily practice because the thing that matters for us in the long run as a team is how quickly are we getting better. So a team that just gets 1% better every week compared to a team that gets 1% better a month is even if they start off at a much lower baseline is going to outperform in a very short amount of time the team that doesn't get better.

    ↗From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuoyoutube.com 19th of 22 in this recording

  13. Our readingNo project run by a manager who privately thinks it is a bad idea has ever turned out wildly successful.

    Their wordsI can tell you right now, every single manager I've ever managed where they're like, I don't really think this is a good idea. The there's no case where I can think of where the project somehow turned out to be like wildly successful.

    ↗From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuoyoutube.com 20th of 22 in this recording

  14. 6 months earlier

  15. Our readingAI favours tiny teams of high-agency individual contributors with blurred roles, and the coordinating manager is not needed until it is time to polish.

    agency

    Their wordsWelcome to the era of AI-native companies, where individual contributors (ICs) reign supreme.

    ↗The Death of Product Development as We Know itlg.substack.com