Adam Gonnerman

“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” -  Warren Buffett One consistent truth I have observed in business is that leaders tend to reward what is visible, while some of the most essential work within organizations remains unseen. Consider a product launch. Slack channels fill with celebration, leadership offers public praise, and performance metrics are widely shared. Now contrast that with months of refactoring, quiet mentoring, and diligent risk mitigation that largely go unnoticed. Visibility distorts perception. This is visibility bias in action. It appears as: Shipping rewarded more than stabilizing. Roadmaps praised more than operational rigor. Deck-building valued over difficult conversations. Activity mistaken for impact. This connects directly to a post I previously wrote on shipping versus advancing , where I argued that organizations often conflate visible activity with meaningful progress. Shipping, with releases, tickets, a...

“ All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward .” — Ellen Glasgow One day I was at the neighbor's house, hanging out with friends, when I noticed a calendar with a quote for each month. Paging through it, I came across the one above. It impacted me deeply at the time, as it aligned with what I often felt I saw in the world. Movement without progress. As the years have passed the quote has stayed with me, and its meaning to me has evolved as I've progressed through my career. I can see that in today's business culture, we often confuse activity with achievement. Let's consider the differences between shipping and advancing. "Shipping" means delivering something, releasing a feature, completing a sprint, publishing a post, or closing a ticket. Shipping is visible. It feels productive. It checks a box. Advancing, on the other hand, means moving closer to a meaningful objective. It's creating durable value. Improving systems and not just outputs....