How Fidji Simo Finds Focus and Creates Conditions for Intentional Work

TL;DR: Fidji Simo, then VP of Product at Facebook managing 400+ PMs and engineers, developed a rigorous system for intentional work after being forced to work remotely during five months of bed rest. Her approach centers on aligning actions with intentions at every level. The core practice is a weekly 30-60 minute Monday morning meeting with herself to check if her priorities still match the organization's priorities, review whether recent decisions aligned with stated intentions, and adjust her calendar accordingly. She also conducts quarterly calendar audits to see actual time allocation versus intended priorities. For product teams, she organizes them around problems rather than products. When a team focused on 'helping celebrities engage with their audience' discovered that video was better than text Q&A, they pivoted to build Facebook Live. Had they been 'the Q&A team,' they likely would have stayed stuck on their original solution. When Live showed strong traction, Simo made a dramatic resource reallocation - shifting from 10 to 100+ engineers by pausing all other projects. She emphasizes that staffing is one of the greatest expressions of focus, and misalignment between stated priorities and resource allocation often goes unnoticed. Her tactical calendar management includes defaulting to 15-minute meetings, blocking buffer time for unexpected issues, and having clear scripts for declining meetings that don't align with current priorities.