I wrote to all my students at NTU yesterday: “(This is not coursework, but very useful info). If you are thinking about your career and how to succeed in your future jobs, please read Duolingo’s just-released handbook. I am certain that if you can meet their standards, you will be able to succeed anywhere. I wonder why other MNCs haven’t published such a book, but at least you can now see what it takes to be world-class.”
Duolingo summarises the key principles of their success like this:
- Take the Long View: If it helps in the short-term but hurts Duolingo in the long-term, it’s not right.
- Raise the Bar: To change how the world learns, we must do world-class work.
- Ship It!: For a good idea to become reality, we need to push experiments with a sense of urgency. So go, go, go!
- Show Don’t Tell: We use clear, concise communication that is grounded in data and real impact.
- Make It Fun: We bring a sense of humor, joy, and imagination to everything we do.
I’ve learned these same principles from working in high-performance teams and environments over the past 27 years. But I know my students don’t always want to hear my ancient war stories, so I think it’s great that Duolingo has distilled the essence of being world-class into a compact PDF.
(Image from Duolingo)