Tag: Are Right A Lot

Distant Well-Wishers

Distant Well-Wishers

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Of all the sources of happy birthday messages (which are truly delightful, by the way), one I least expected was a text from the customer service agent at CoveredCA that I worked with to get health insurance after I was laid off nearly 5 years ago, and haven’t interacted with since.

I get that it’s trivially easy for any organization that knows your date of birth to send out such messages, but…

That’s gotta be some kind of automated message, right? Or a mistake? In any case, thanks for “thinking of me” on my special day!

Taste The Rainbow

Taste The Rainbow

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I’m sure there’s research out there that says people do better work when they’re happy. But anecdotally, it’s an obvious truth. Of course there are limits (“fun with respect to work” will almost always be “work with respect to fun”). But in general, fostering a positive work environment and encouraging employees to take care of themselves is good business.

Last week a colleague of mine was revising the spreadsheet we use for high-level estimation, and as part of her adjustments added a few splashes of color. The highlights had a functional purpose, yes, but they were also simply more pleasant to look at. It made me want to work on the spreadsheet at a subconscious level.

Isn’t that nice? I suppose the 49″ ultrawide monitor doesn’t hurt either. 😛

Another obvious example of this phenomenon is font quality and syntax highlighting. Take a look at the following “identical” code samples; which one would you rather work with?

Literally as I was drafting this blog I learned about Monaspace. Taking code aesthetics to the next level, I dig it. Describing the process of adjusting glyph widths as “texture healing” is an especially humanizing touch. Happiness matters!

Godwin’s Law Redux

Godwin’s Law Redux

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As a tech discussion grows longer, the probability of a mention of Generative AI approaches one. It definitely happened at today’s 4S Tech meetup; we didn’t even make it all the way through the introductions.

Additional common topics: biometrics, productivity hacking, ways to get funding, something someone heard on a podcast.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

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Amazon promotions require “best reasons not to promote” to be documented, both from a manager and from any colleague who provides formal feedback. Arguably it was the most important part of the process, because it demonstrated that input came from individuals who could see the candidate clearly enough to speak honestly about both their strengths and their shortcomings.

When coaching candidates for promotion, I recommended they write their own version of that section, and then we’d review theirs alongside my own. Why? Because if you shy away from your deficiencies, you have no counterargument to them. They’re going to be found out anyways by any competent promotion evaluators, so why not get ahead of the curve.

I don’t pretend this is easy, especially for people who have battled insecurities or have lacked encouraging support throughout their careers. But it’s essential for making meaningful career progress. When advocating for yourself, look your shortcomings straight in the eye.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss my Dad, but this week I’ve been particularly reminded of him being the reason I rarely feel insecure in naming my professional weaknesses. What a tremendous gift from a parent, the words “I love you” and “I’m proud of you” spoken aloud, simply and frequently. I must have heard those words hundreds of times. Thousands. So often that their truth got into my bones. I believed him then, and I still do now, even though he’s gone. Thanks Dad.

Cerberus

Cerberus

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I’m coming up on six months since I took the CTO job at RIPL. Enough time to meet the team and get settled in, even bring a few tactical benefits that solve immediate needs. But the real work begins now, that of strategic planning that sets us up for long-term success.

Operating in a C-Suite is new to me. I don’t have a point of comparison, but so far it’s been great. Between the three of us we have a well-distributed set of skills and experiences, which means we can lean into our strengths while knowing the others have our blind spots covered. In many ways we’re operating as a coalition of equals more than a hierarchy; of course there’s deference when required, but the level of mutual trust is such that it doesn’t really come up often. And I genuinely enjoy the company (in both senses of the term). Not sure if this is rare or common, but I’m grateful either way.

Perhaps this is how the best leadership teams operate, more like a unified whole than a siloed set of individuals? It’s an idea worth exploring further; the Freakonomics episode Are Two CEOs Better Than One is probably where I’ll start.

A corollary to the above, especially given I’m the oldest person in the group (a fact worthy of its own post), is that finding mentorship from professionals with more experience in my role means that I have to look to sources outside my employer. It’s why I’m trying to build a better professional network through activities like starting 4S Tech, attending CTO Lunches, joining the Rand Leadership Slack, and taking a tech ethics class. I consider these efforts part of my job, because I owe it to my company to develop myself further.

Terminus

Terminus

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Ending conversations is always a bit awkward, whether it be in-person goodbyes, the “uh, are we done?” Zoom meeting closer, or wondering if an email chain needs a final “Thanks” acknowledgement.

Real-time text-based exchanges are particularly tough. Here’s my question: is an emoji response a sufficient message that “yes I got your message, I’m acknowledging that, but I’m not keen to talk further”? Is the vibe different if I send the emoji as a standalone response vs applying the emoji as a reaction to the last message I received?

Need some help from someone in the know, which probably means someone younger than myself.

School’s In Session

School’s In Session

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Tonight I kick off a class from Stanford called Ethics, Technology, and Public Policy for Practitioners. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been involved with formal education (about 10 years actually), but I’m pretty excited. Not just for the learning, but for the people I’ll meet along the way, who appear to be a fantastically variegated bunch based on what I’ve seen on Slack so far.

Here’s the course description from the syllabus:

Our goal is to explore the ethical and social impacts of technological innovation. We will integrate perspectives from computer science, philosophy, and social science to provide learning experiences that robustly and holistically examine the impact of technology on humans and societies.

Basically it’s Jud catnip. If it sounds interesting to you, I think it’s offered periodically. Here’s a link for future reference.

Withertos And Whyfors

Withertos And Whyfors

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If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: there’s more to being a software engineer than coding. In fact, coding isn’t even the hardest part.

The point of that latter article is that AI won’t replace programmers any time soon, but not because it can’t code. Rather because it needs to know what it’s coding for, and specifying that well is what matters, whether it be a carefully constructed prompt to GPT or a detailed requirements document.

One of my favorite sayings is “It’s only software!” And I mean it, in that with enough time and money, computers can do just about anything (which is itself pretty darn cool). But no amount of software can determine what ought to be built. To do that we must apply a broader set of tools.

Truth At The Intersection

Truth At The Intersection

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Earlier this year I pledged to read 32 out of my 44 books by authors who are either non-white or non-male, 73% of my total. Juneteenth seems like an excellent day to see how I’m doing, given both its significance to my objective, as well as it being near the middle of the year.

As of today I’ve completed 24 books, ahead of my required pace of 22 by this date. Of those, 4 were written by white women, 2 by non-white women, and 10 by non-white men. That’s 16 in total, or 67%, which means I need to pick up my pace a bit to hit my goal. Of my current 3 books in flight, 2 are by women and 1 was written by a consortium of indigenous folks, so that’ll help things out. And I’ve plenty more qualifying books in my queue.

If you’re curious, you can see what I’m reading any time on my Goodreads page.

Not Forgotten

Not Forgotten

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Generally speaking, people want to know they’ve made a difference in the world that will outlast themselves. Few occupations have the intense immediacy of potentially giving one’s life for the future of human flourishing than that of the solider. It’s an admirable profession that is worthy of respect, especially for those for whom this potential became reality. However, not many are suited for such work, not to mention ideally the need for soldiers will shrink as societies mature.

Thankfully there are myriad other ways in which a person can approach a career with the future in mind. Last week I read through a number of articles from 80,000 hours, and I have the book of the same name queued up as well. The premise is that our jobs take up a considerable fraction of our lives, likely more than any other activity, and thus it behooves us to think deeply of how to spend that time. That’s hardly controversial, but applying logical principles and data-backed guidance to maximize the future impact can be (similar to discussions around Effective Altruism).

Personally, I find the arguments compelling. It’s why I’ll spend the rest of my time as a technologist dedicated to work in the public sector, and especially in the space of tech and politics. When it comes to maximizing human flourishing, good public policy is critical, and with a shrinking world, the risk of bad policy existential.

Many have died to give those who remain the chance to build this better world. Honored to be among the latter group; don’t intend to let it go to waste.