​Go listen to the latest episode of The Modern People Leader — where we sat down with Chase Warrington, Head of Operations at Doist, to talk about how async-first operations, org-wide rituals, and small-team AI innovation can power high-output, distributed cultures.

If you’re figuring out how to run fast across time zones (without burning your team out), this episode is packed with tactical gems.

Here’s what stood out most from the conversation.

“Async isn’t the absence of structure — it’s the presence of intentionality” — Chase Warrington

1. Async is the unlock — but only if you treat it like a system

Async isn’t just a perk or a vibe shift. It’s an intentional operating system. At Doist, they’ve built a 1,200-page searchable handbook and defined 10 clear communication guidelines that shape how work gets done. New employees are expected to:

• Clear their inbox daily
• Respond within 24 hours
• Post transparently in public channels

"Every question should have a link. If someone asks something, we should be able to say, 'Here's the handbook page for that.'"

The result? Just 2 hours of meetings per week on average — and faster, higher-quality decisions made without chasing approvals.

2. The Doist System: Squads, Streams, and Specs

Chase walked us through the backbone of Doist's workflow: quarterly planning via "squads" (cross-functional teams) and "streams" (larger work domains like product or operations). Each squad:

• Gets 1 day (not 2 weeks) to create a "V1" spec for their quarterly goal
• Shares async "snippets" weekly instead of standups
• Posts monthly retros and bi-weekly video demos

All updates roll into a color-coded dashboard that gives the whole company visibility into progress. It’s not chaos — it’s clarity.

“We used to take two weeks to write specs. Now we do it in one day. We call it an 'embarrassing V1' — it's not polished, but it gets people moving.”

3. Culture doesn’t require an office. It requires unifying principles.

Doist brings its 100-person team together 2–3 times per year in-person, but Chase was clear: culture isn’t about castles in France or Zoom happy hours.

It’s about:

• Clear core values and a shared mission
• Strong rituals around communication and decision-making
• Trust-based autonomy and freedom over your day

"Culture is: are we rowing in the same direction? Do we know what good looks like here? That’s the heartbeat — not office perks."​

4. Async is the foundation. AI is the force multiplier.

Because Doist is async-native, they’re already ahead on AI. One of their current squads, "AI Ops," is rethinking internal workflows to:

• Cut planning time from 4 weeks to 4 hours
• Create cross-tool search across GitHub, Google Docs, Twist, and more
• Build internal bots to remove manual steps

And they did it without a single engineer.

"The tools are strong enough now that a people person, a finance person, and an ops lead can prototype real solutions. Everyone’s kind of a junior dev now."

5. Distributed teams don’t need to feel distant

Async doesn’t have to feel robotic. Doist bakes human connection into its workflows:

• Social rituals (like virtual meetups)
• Public recognition in Twist
• In-person retreats focused on both fun and collaboration

"We want people to walk away thinking: I can’t wait to go to the next retreat. But also: I got something meaningful done with my team."

Simple yet powerful. That’s the Doist way.

6. Async isn’t less human — it’s more intentional

One of the biggest misconceptions about async work is that it’s cold or isolating. Chase pushed back on that hard. At Doist, they intentionally design for human connection — without defaulting to forced fun or endless video calls.

They maintain a robust calendar of optional social events, create space for personal updates in async threads, and invest heavily in their in-person retreats. But most importantly, they make work itself a unifier.

“When we bring people together — virtually or in person — they want time to hang out, sure. But they also want to build. The work is what connects us.”

By focusing on purpose and clarity first, and social connection second, they’ve built a culture that’s both high-performing and deeply human.

Thanks for reading. See you next time!