Personal Operating Manual ~ Chappy Asel

Personality & StrengthsPersonality, Strengths & Blind Spots

My Personality Profile

Myers-Briggs: ENTJ-A ("The Commander")
Big Five / OCEAN: Very high Conscientiousness (108) & Extraversion (106); very low Agreeableness (61) & Neuroticism (38). As in, top 1-5% most extreme for all four 😅

Achiever: I work hard and possess a great deal of stamina. I take immense satisfaction in being busy and productive. I love to complete tasks, and my accomplishments fulfill me. I have a strong inner drive — an innate source of intensity, energy and power that motivates me to work hard to get things done.
Arranger: I can organize, but also have a flexibility that complements this ability. I like to determine how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity. I have a natural ability to coordinate people and resources for maximum effectiveness. My creative flexibility in complex situations leads to greater efficiency.
Learner: I have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites me. I provide your teammates with a logical perspective on things.
Competition: I measure my progress against the performance of others. I strive to win first place and revel in contests. I motivate yourself and others to a higher standard of performance. I can raise a group’s achievement level by creating a culture of winning and aspiring to be the best.
Significance: I want to make a big impact. I am independent and prioritize projects based on how much influence they will have on your organization or people around me. I want to do important work and are determined to make a difference. I want others to respect me for my significant contribution and willingness to work hard to achieve success.

BIS-11: Very low impulsiveness (41).
In practice, this means:
- I am a mission-oriented systems-builder energized by ambitious goals and rational debate. I thrive on turning chaos into order and driving a team toward a clear, world-changing objective.
- I view my (very) high disagreeableness as a feature of my commitment to my mission. I believe that intellectual honesty and rigorous debate are the fastest path to the best ideas.

My Strengths

My Gallup profile concentrates in Influencing and Executing – but my impact comes from how these combine with my drive for Significance. You should leverage me accordingly.

Making things happen: My instinct is to turn ideas into action. I have a deep-seated need to see tangible progress every day.
Organizing complexity: I break down large, complex challenges into elegant systems and processes. This is where my obsession with systems-building lives.
Raising the bar: I create cultures of winning – measuring progress, celebrating milestones, and pushing the team toward a higher standard.

My Blind Spots (Where I Need Your Help)

I'm working to notice and correct these before they affect others. You are always invited (but never responsible) to flag them! If you name it, I will do my best to pause, understand the impact, and repair rather than defend it.

How We Collaborate

My Time & Availability

Working hours: I am effectively always working (usually 80-100 h/w 😅), but my core, most responsive hours are 9am-7pm PT. You can expect me to be highly engaged during this window. (Curious? Check out Chappy’s Core Daily Routine)
Weekends: My mornings before 9am, as well as Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, are my protected deep work blocks (eg. coding, writing, researching, strategy). I will be slow to respond during these blocks. I work intensely on weekends, but I cherish this time for uninterrupted, creative deep work. Please respect this by avoiding non-urgent requests.

Meetings

Philosophy: I believe meetings are for two things: 1) high-bandwidth debate to solve a hard problem, and 2) efficient, team-wide status updates and alignment.
Expectations:
- Come on time & prepared: I expect the meeting leader to arrive on time and with a clear (and ideally written) agenda.
- Active participation: I expect everyone on the call to be engaged and to contribute. The meeting leader is responsible for creating and facilitating these conditions.
- Pre-reads: A pre-read in advance before is a gift to everyone in the meeting – especially if it’s more of a homework assignment rather than passive read! It's by no means required, but it is always appreciated and allows us to use our synchronous time for the highest-value and most informed discussions.

Communication

Note on my response time: I am often juggling a very high volume (100+ of open lines. While I will see your message, it may occasionally take me 5-8 days to respond to non-urgent pings. Please do not take this personally; it is a function of my batching system for managing focus. If you need a faster response, read on!

My Communication Principles

Async-first: I believe the best work happens in long, uninterrupted blocks of focus. For any complex topic, my strong preference is to start with a written, well-structured document (like a Notion or Google Doc). This allows me to engage with your ideas deeply on my own schedule and it forces clarity of thought for everyone involved.
High signal-to-noise ratio: Be concise. Use bullet points. Get to the point quickly and put your rec or key question at the top. I trust you've done the deep thinking; you don't need to show all your work in the initial message. Minimal ChatGPT fluff please!
Context is your responsibility: Please ask "does Chappy have all the context he needs to make an informed decision on this?" If no, provide the necessary background docs / links. Reducing friction is the fastest way to get a response!
Default to transparency: Whenever possible, our communications should happen in shared, public channels within the team. This reduces redundant conversations, creates a shared context, and allows others to learn and contribute.

The Right Channel for the Job

For non-urgent, day-to-day comms & FYIs: Use the appropriate public Slack channel. If you need my specific input, you must @ me or I will likely miss it. I am in over 100 channels (in AIC) and rely on mentions to filter what's important.
To get my input on a document: Share a Notion or Google Doc with me and @ me in a specific channel with a clear question and your recommendation. This ensures it hits my radar.
To pitch me a new, big idea: Write a concise, one-page document outlining: 1) the problem, 2) the proposed solution, and 3) a concrete first step. Share this with me via Slack.
For an urgent, time-sensitive issue (≤ 3 hours): Send me a text message prefixed with "URGENT:". This will get my immediate attention. My phone # is included in my email signature and on my Slack profile.

Feedback

How to Give Me Feedback

I am running a thousand miles an hour and am full of blind spots. Please help me see them! Your honest perspective is a gift that helps me and our shared mission get better.
The method: (a Crucial Conversations framework)
- Ask for permission: Because I am constantly context-switching, the most effective way to give me feedback is to first get my attention. A simple Slack message like, "Hey Chappy, do you have 10 minutes for some feedback on X later today?" is the perfect way to start. This allows me to switch into the right mental frame to actually hear you.
- Lead with the facts: Start with a neutral, specific observation. (eg. "In the leadership sync yesterday, when we discussed the budget, I noticed we moved to a decision without hearing from the broader team.")
- Share Your story: Explain the impact this had on you or the project. (eg. "The story I told myself was that we are prioritizing speed over rigor in our financial planning, which makes me concerned about future risks.")
- End with a question: Open the door for a real conversation. (eg. "I was hoping you could help me understand your thinking there?")

How I Give Feedback

My philosophy: (from Radical Candor)
- I aim to care personally while challenging directly. I intend to address the work or behavior rather than the person, but intent doesn't determine impact. If I land badly or make an unfair inference, tell me!
How I recognize great work
- I believe that recognition is a critical part of a high-performance culture. My goal is to ensure you feel seen and valued for your contributions.
- How I show it:
  - Succinct public praise: I frequently give public praise for specific, excellent work, especially in our Slack channels or team meetings. My style is often succinct and direct, but it is a sincere acknowledgment of a job well done.
  - Trust and autonomy: The single greatest way I show my respect for your work is by giving you more of it. When you consistently deliver with excellence, I will respond by giving you more ownership, more freedom, and bigger, more interesting problems to solve.
  - Advocacy: I will champion you and your work in the rooms you are not in. I will use my network and my platform to create opportunities for you and to ensure your contributions are recognized by the people who matter.

This is definitely a WIP and probably always will be! If we've worked closely together: What here matches your experience? What's missing or wrong? I care much more about making this true than making it flattering.

Hobbies

I have two hobbies and I take both of them very seriously!

Bodybuilding (Natural)

Outside of tech, I live a second life as a natural bodybuilder! I’ve trained with intent and intensity for 8+ years and occasionally compete in the INBF/WNBF natural federations. I track every set, iterate my programming, and measure what matters – I even built my own app to systematize progress! One reason I love lifting is the objective daily affirmation: I walk in, hit a PR, and know definitely that I’m the best I’ve ever been!

Weightlifting App: my app for tracking and analyzing workouts
Check out all my workouts here: Weightlifting
“From Nerd to Bodybuilder” (article): the story linking my tech mindset to lifting

Reading

I am a bibliomaniac. I read 50-100 books a year, and much of my personal and professional philosophy is a synthesis of frameworks from thinkers I deeply respect. If you want to understand the "why" behind how I operate, these books are the source material!

Read my full compendium of book notes here: Book Notes

On Personal Growth & Effectiveness

7 Habits of Highly Effective People: The bible and foundational operating system for a principled and effective life.
Thinking, Fast and Slow: The essential guide to understanding our own cognitive biases and making better, more rational decisions.
Atomic Habits: The tactical operating system for building the small, consistent habits that lead to remarkable results.
Plays Well with Others: How to build and maintain the strong personal and professional relationships that are the foundation of a happy and impactful life.
Range: The intellectual justification for my "paradoxical passions" and my belief in the power of being a T-shaped, cross-disciplinary thinker.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree: A data-driven guide (my favorite) to what actually leads to a successful and meaningful life, challenging many common assumptions.

Community & Events

Bowling Alone: The definitive diagnosis of the problem we are trying to solve: the collapse of community and social capital in the modern world. This is the "why" behind our in-person focus.
The Art of Community: Provides the core principles for building a community with a strong identity, clear boundaries, and meaningful rituals.
Community: A powerful philosophical argument that the key to a thriving society is structuring belonging and citizen-led action, which is the heart of the AIC's grassroots model.
The Art of Gathering: Our tactical bible for event design. It's why we obsess over having a clear purpose for every single event we host, from a small dinner to a large festival.
The 2-Hour Cocktail Party: A masterclass in simple, repeatable, and high-energy event formats. It's the "how-to" guide for much of what our chapters do.

On Building High-Performance Teams

The Culture Code: My primary playbook for architecting a culture of psychological safety, shared vulnerability, and purpose. All of the leaders around me have also read this book.
Radical Candor: The non-negotiable framework for how we give feedback. It's about caring personally while challenging directly.
Thanks for the Feedback: The user manual for how to receive feedback – even when it's poorly delivered – as a gift for personal growth.
Crucial Conversations: The tactical guide for navigating the high-stakes, emotionally charged conversations that are inevitable when doing ambitious work.

On Building a World-Changing Mission

Life 3.0 & The Singularity is Near: These are the foundational texts that ignited my obsession and defined the core mission of The AI Collective.
Zero to One: The definitive guide to thinking from first principles and building something truly new in the world.
Start With Why: The core of how I think about inspiring a movement – it's not about what we do, but why we do it.
The Infinite Game: This book shapes our long-term strategy. We are building a resilient organization with a just cause, designed to last for generations.

Chappy's POMChappy's Personal Operating Manual

TL;DR

My 30-Second Self-Intro

My Personal Mission Statement