6 Modest Posts About culture

Over the years, I've been blessed enough to work with a wide variety of organizations, each with its own quirks, culture, and personalities. Unfortunately, one universal thing I've observed (and the driving force behind me writing this series) has been the relative discomfort emanating from non-technical people who are simply trying to find the best way to operate effectively surrounded by a veritable lion's den of critical-minded engineers. I totally get it. And it sucks. At the end of the day

Time. The most precious resource. You probably shouldn't waste it in meetings. I've personally experienced and lamented over our society's complete disrespect for the absolute blessing that is even the smallest increment of time. On an individual level, it should be our most carefully guarded resource. On a company level, its misuse should be analyzed, reported on, and further optimized in the same way that the financial balance sheet is. The hourglass of our lives is very real, and if you let

I remember when I was a kid, maybe 4 or 5 years old. Mom had just put me in my bed, read a brief bedtime story, and then turned out the lights. That's when the terror began. "What's that outside my window?!" It's gotta be a tree blowing in the wind, something totally innocuous and benign. Or perhaps it's an 18-foot-tall alien with gnashing teeth and 16 tentacles waiting to snatch me from my room at any moment. As silly as that example is, we still create monsters, even as adults. And where do

Performance in Parental Pandemonium I, like many others, feel incredibly fortunate to be a parent. Despite stubbornly feeling like I'm still the same age, my children continue to get older at a rate that is simultaneously terrifying and amazing to witness. I often catch myself sharing war stories of the early years when sleep was fleeting at best, and where the concept of any sensible or humane routine was out the window. Those times when every day seemed to blur into the next as my wife and

I'm an addict. Yes, I'm addicted to the rush that comes every time I swoop in to save the day when there's some bug, outage, or issue. I'm addicted to the praise and admiration of those whose pain I've remedied. And, the more I think about it, and maybe closer to the truth, I'm addicted to some fleeting validation that I'm still needed and vital in my organization. Does that sound like you at all? Are you looking forward to the next nose dive so that you can be the hero who masterfully pulls

My wife just got back from a week of business travel that had me and our two kids again attempting to fill her huge shoes while she was away. We had hoped that the dog would help help us absorb some of this load, but he's really only good at barking at stuff, being soft, and gnawing on tennis balls, so no dice there. You see, our life is very much set up for two adults running things. One takes the daughter to gymnastics while the other gets dinner ready. One walks the dog while the other gets