I like the idea of a README for easier introduction and to help folks know my quirks. Check it out!

Backstory

I was born and raised in Montana, and I used to convince folks I grew up wrestling bears.

My wife and I met at University of Puget Sound, married right after college. Our dog entered the picture in 2019. She's too smart for her own good. We now live in Tacoma, WA, after a long stint in Seattle.

In my spare time I like to walk, read, cook, play games, and work with wood. Some project photos can be found here.

Purpose

I read the following before my daily journaling.

Today is an opportunity to transform, dream during the day, and cultivate my noble self. I thrive on opportunity and love. I act with integrity, intensity, and joy.

How I describe my role

My job as an engineering leader (environment cultivator) is to

• Grow individuals and the team for long term success
• Drive trust for real, effective conversations
• Provide cover when necessary

I love jumping in on the engineering problems, but those are a lot easier when the above goals are accomplished.

Books and such on my mind

These are books, articles, and talks I'm mulling over: i.e. they left an impression. The list sometimes changes.

• The 5AM Club
• Churchill: Walking With Destiny
• How to Win Friends and Influence People
• Think in Systems: A Primer
• The Pragmatic Programmer
• The Old Man and the Sea
• Less Wrong
• Simple Made Easy
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

(If you're looking for "fun" books or cookbooks, hit me up! I have a list too long for this page.)

Quirks and ways of working

• I like to repeat and reframe things. A lot. Finding the angle with best leverage is important to moving with power and shared purpose.
• Expect me to put out fast and embarassingly early first drafts for feedback. Then increment quickly.
• Language matters to me, a lot. I'll be picky about word choice and writing and how we frame problems. Less is almost always more.
• I mumble/externally subvocalize to understand you better. It makes more sense in person when you don't have to ask if I'm muted.
• My calendar looks busy, but I'll nuke it if you ask me to.
• I joke, a lot. Sometimes, it's sarcasm, meant in good fun but chastise me if I overstep.

What do I need from others?

• Feedback: Keep it blunt, rooted in facts/examples, and timely. I'm expecting it! This goes for feedback about my performance and that of the team (which are the same thing). Don't hold back. I won't mind. I will, however, mind if I find out you did hold back!
• Ownership: I expect folks to demonstrate high levels of ownership. As a team of adults, nobody is working entirely alone, but they are responsible for whatever they commit to. Sometimes this means asking for help and other times it means questioning or pushing back.
• Craft: I believe software "engineering" is a craft. That means I want a team dedicated to learning, challenging themselves, interested in all aspects of the problem, and a respect for the process. This manifests in code and designs, communicating clearly, helping share knowledge, and respecting boundaries.

Go to tools/tactics

• Self care: I'm trying to build world-class self care rituals. These help me show up as my noble self. Current focuses: early rise, early workout, investments in emotional well-being, and constant, structured learning.
• Successful conversations: I believe in meetings with an agenda (purpose), conflict (the kind that means we're tackling worthy problems), and the right audience. Sometimes the last two look a little like gamesmanship; I promise they aren't. I just happen to be a big believer in focus and timing.
• 1:1s: It's amazing what kind of conversations can come up with guaranteed time every week. I leave the agenda up to my reports but will always have something to discuss.
• A little bit of process (systems): I love goals, but it's impossible to meet them reliably if you're tackling every one as a wholly new problem. Instead, I focus on putting systems in place. Scott Adams has a great post about this. Another framing is to focus on being over doing (see The Landmark Forum).
• Copilot. Mostly the GitHub kind right now, but I'm a big fan of trying out AI tools to learn the space and level up my own capabilities. Perplexity.ai is also in the rotation.

Things I'm working on

• Team level feedback. Having been raised (in the career sense) on teams with a disdain for sprints and business deadlines, I misunderstood some of the value in committing a team or individual to deadlines. I now understand concrete commitments help create measurable progress and let folks know something is wrong earlier. Getting good systems in place so measurement happens naturally is a work in progress.
• Holding my peers accountable to the same level as myself. I am vocally self critical to a fault. This leaves room for my personality to assuage others of guilt and chide myself in the same breath.
• Not a fault, but I recognize my current position is about to change every week with new expectations and challenges. I'm anticipating this as a season of growth. It's going to be fun!