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The high-growth handbook: Molly Graham’s frameworks for leading through chaos, change, and scale

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Jan 4, 2026

Guest

Molly Graham

Molly Graham, a leader and advisor known for her work with tech giants like Google and Facebook, shares invaluable insights on scaling organizations. She discusses her 'Give away your Legos' framework, which emphasizes delegating responsibilities to foster growth. Molly also introduces the J-curve vs. stairs career paths, advocating for risk-taking to accelerate development. She highlights the importance of diagnosing team issues with the waterline model and offers six rules for setting effective goals. With practical advice on navigating rapid change, her wisdom is a must-listen for any leader.

01:31:56

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Episode notes

00:00 / 00:00

Scaling Lessons From Google And Facebook

Molly described early roles at Google and Facebook that taught her tools for scaling teams quickly.
She used those experiences to build frameworks now shared in Glue Club.

00:00 / 00:00

Relentlessly Reassign Your Work

Give away responsibilities you mastered so you can grow into larger problems as the company scales.
Accept the uncomfortable emotions that come with handing off work and move to the next opportunity.

00:00 / 00:00

Externalize And Wait Out Reactive Emotions

Name and observe the emotional reactions that make you act poorly and wait them out before deciding.
If feelings last longer than two weeks, treat them as signals that require action or conversation.

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Molly's background and scaling lessons

04:45 • 7min

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Give away your Legos explained

11:36 • 6min

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Managing the inner monster (Bob)

17:06 • 3min

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When to resist change and embrace the future

19:50 • 4min

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J-curve vs. stairs career framework

23:33 • 6min

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Evaluating risk when jumping cliffs

29:46 • 5min

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Be a professional idiot and learn fast

34:50 • 4min

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The waterline model: snorkel before scuba

38:39 • 6min

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Diagnose teams by clarifying roles

44:12 • 3min

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Six rules for strong goals

47:24 • 10min

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Leading through change: core rules of thumb

57:31 • 6min

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Hire well and get good at firing

01:03:12 • 5min

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Invest in high performers, run experiments

01:07:50 • 3min

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Founder-driven culture and escalation

01:10:55 • 5min

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Growth rate advice: slow hiring beats panic

01:16:04 • 5min

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Shifting ambitions and finding purpose

01:21:30 • 5min

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Final takeaways: customers, patience, expect instability

• Mentioned in 29 episodes

Scaling People

Tactics for Management and Company Building

Claire Hughes-Johnson

Scaling People is a detailed roadmap for company builders to put the right operating systems and structures in place to scale their companies sustainably. The book provides tactical guidance on crafting foundational documents, strategic and financial planning, hiring and team development, and feedback and performance mechanisms. It includes dozens of pages of worksheets, templates, exercises, and example documents to help create scalable operating systems and lightweight processes. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience as a Google and Stripe executive, Claire Hughes Johnson offers actionable insights and a human-centric approach to developing talent and building a sustainable, scalable company.

• Mentioned in 1,181 episodes

Atomic Habits

James Clear

Atomic Habits by James Clear provides a practical and scientifically-backed guide to forming good habits and breaking bad ones. The book introduces the Four Laws of Behavior Change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying. It also emphasizes the importance of small, incremental changes (atomic habits) that compound over time to produce significant results. Clear discusses techniques such as habit stacking, optimizing the environment to support desired habits, and focusing on continuous improvement rather than goal fixation. The book is filled with actionable strategies, real-life examples, and stories from various fields, making it a valuable resource for anyone seeking to improve their habits and achieve personal growth.

Molly Graham has worked for some of tech’s most effective leaders, including Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Chamath Palihapitiya, and Bret Taylor. Today she leads Glue Club, a community for leaders navigating rapid scale, growth, and change. She’s best known for her “Give away your Legos” framework and her collection of practical mental models for leading through hypergrowth.

We discuss:

1. “Give away your Legos”: a framework for scaling yourself as a leader

2. “J-curves vs. stairs”: the two paths of career growth, and why you should pick the scarier path

3. “The waterline model” for diagnosing team problems (and why you should “snorkel before you scuba”)

4. Six rules for creating effective goals (and aligning everyone around them)

5. Rules of thumb for leading through rapid scale and change

6. Her biggest leadership lessons from Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Sheryl Sandberg, and Bret Taylor

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Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-high-growth-handbook-molly-graham

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My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/182877855/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation

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Where to find Molly Graham:

• X: https://x.com/molly_g

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mograham

• Substack: https://mollyg.substack.com

• Website: https://glueclub.com

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Molly Graham

(04:28) Molly’s background at Google, Facebook, Quip, and CZI

(11:29) The “Give away your Legos” framework

(16:44) Managing your inner monster

(19:49) When not to give away your Legos

(21:28) Embracing a long career

(23:25) The J-curve vs. stairs approach to career growth

(32:00) The gift of knowing yourself

(34:28) Learning to be a professional idiot

(38:30) The waterline model: snorkel before you scuba

(47:16) Six rules for creating strong alignment around goals

(57:15) Rules of thumb for leading through rapid scale

(01:07:49) Investing in high performers vs. low performers

(01:10:54) Lessons from Zuckerberg, Sandberg, and Bret Taylor

(1:21:15) Pivoting from ambition to purpose

(1:26:32) Finding stability in instability

(01:29:44) Final thoughts

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Referenced:

• Making an impact through authenticity and curiosity | Ami Vora (CPO at Faire, ex-WhatsApp, FB, IG): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/authenticity-and-curiosity-ami-vora

• Sheryl Sandberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheryl-sandberg-5126652

• Elliot Schrage on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliotschrage

• Quip: https://quip.com

• He saved OpenAI, invented the “Like” button, and built Google Maps: Bret Taylor on the future of careers, coding, agents, and more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/he-saved-openai-bret-taylor

• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: https://chanzuckerberg.com

• 10 contrarian leadership truths every leader needs to hear | Matt MacInnis (Rippling): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-contrarian-leadership-truths

• ‘Give Away Your Legos’ and Other Commandments for Scaling Startups: https://review.firstround.com/give-away-your-legos-and-other-commandments-for-scaling-startups

• The Muppets: https://muppets.disney.com

• Sara Caldwell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saramcaldwell

• J-Curves vs. Stairs: Two Approaches to Career Growth: https://mollyg.substack.com/p/j-curve

• Forget the corporate ladder—winners take risks: https://www.ted.com/talks/molly_graham_forget_the_corporate_ladder_winners_take_risks

• Chamath Palihapitiya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chamath

• Lori Goler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-goler-6b96921

• Joseph Campbell’s quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/192665-the-cave-you-fear-to-enter-holds-the-treasure-you

• Zevi Arnovitz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zev-arnovitz

• Peopling 101: The Waterline Model: https://christinehaskell.com/blog/peopling-101-the-waterline-model

• Introduction to NVC: https://www.cnvc.org/learn/what-is-nvc

• I hate OKRs... and other thoughts about goal setting: https://mollyg.substack.com/p/i-hate-okrs-and-other-thoughts-about

• Lessons from scaling Stripe | Claire Hughes Johnson (former COO of Stripe): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-scaling-stripe-tactics

• James Clear’s quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9614600-problem-1-winners-and-losers-have-the-same-goals

• Founder mode: https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html

• Stripe: https://stripe.com

• Patrick Collison on X: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison

• John Collison on X: https://x.com/collision

• Seth Godin’s best tactics for building remarkable products, strategies, brands and more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/seth-godins-tactics-for-building-remarkable-products

• Eric Antonow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonow

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Recommended books:

• The Artist’s Way: https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-25th-Anniversary/dp/0143129252

• Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-People-Tactics-Management-Building/dp/1953953212

• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones: https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/0735211299

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

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