too stupid to be having this conversation
Anyone who knows me has probably heard me talk about opening a startup. The thrill of standing on your own 2 feet, getting to wear many hats, the huge asymmetric upside if you're successful (and, at a minimum, the rich/textured life story if not). Above all else, it's been my primary aspirat[...]
Today I'm switching back to being an individual contributor. It's perplexing that this is something that evokes a mix of shame / exhilaration / terror / hopefulness / dejection. Like telling your Mom, "I'm the one who broke the vase, not the dog" and feeling relief that the li[...]
Does this sound like you? You're an achievement-oriented leader. To build momentum, you personally set the standard for performance and for exemplifying the values of the organization. You take the lead, set the pace, and expect the people around you will notice, follow along, and (eventually) c[...]
Much has been written about hiring for passion: seeking out engineers who... * spend as much of their time programming and interacting with computers as possible. * identify with your company's mission and believe it lends their life a sense of purpose (John Doerr's whole missionaries-not[...]
Part of the reason I started this blog was to have somewhere to post my photography. Well it's been like 2 years and this is my 1st post on the topic, opps. Better late than never to test out the fancy photo galleries I integrated into this blog's theme. Surprise! There are bugs in the ga[...]
Opinions that verge on truisms are dangerous when spoken by people in a position of power. The personal cost of speaking out is too high; thus they waste time, incite frustration, and breed disillusionment.
Starting your first job is tough: you have to juggle learning the ropes of professional life alongside skilling up as a new engineer. You might believe the going gets easier each subsequent job switch. Sorry to disappoint: it doesn't–taking a new job mid-career comes with increased expectations.
You can't make it more than 1 minute into a piece of media discussing microservices without encountering admonitions to "carefully consider the trade-offs." This is promptly followed by not explaining any trade-offs, as if being direct would make their position technically indefensible.
Literature on the importance of empathetic leadership is everywhere. However, just because we now talk about things like relationships and trust at work does not mean that we have all magically become more empathetic. We must walk a fine line between outright manipulation and influence.
Despite their necessity and prevalence, I attend a huge number of meetings that are duds. Hosting meetings with 3 or more people is a little bit of a dark art. Unlike a 1-on-1, larger group settings don't benefit from spontaneity. The fix is structure, which you are responsible for as the host.
In a phone screen you have limited time to make a judgment about a candidate...someone you have just met and know practically nothing about. The humble phone screen touches every candidate in your pipeline so getting it wrong can have dire consequences for your hiring pipeline.
Junction is a Python package that allows developers to publish markdown files tracked in a Git repository to Confluence. With Junction, you can use pull requests, code review, release branches, etc. to also manage how documentation gets released to your wiki.
Opening this blog took longer than I am proud to admit. In truth, I was afraid of putting my ideas out there. What if I accidentally expose myself as incompetent? It didn't matter to me that virtually no one was going to read the blog, I was not comfortable with that level of vulnerability.