I build software, write about engineering, and take photographs.

“You’re far more likely to change your company’s long-term trajectory by growing the engineers around you than through personal heroics.”

Shelf noteAt senior levels, durable impact is multiplied through people, context, and direction rather than individual output alone.

“You get two major benefits if you write orthogonal systems: increased productivity and reduced risk.”

Shelf noteOrthogonal systems reduce change risk and coordination cost; disciplined craft keeps that advantage intact.

“The willing and even enthusiastic acceptance of competing constraints is the foundation of design thinking. The first stage of the design process is often about discovering which constraints are important and establishing a framework for evaluating them. Constraints can best be visualized in terms of three overlapping criteria for successful ideas: feasibility (what is functionally possible within the foreseeable future); viability (what is likely to become part of a sustainable business model); and desirability (what makes sense to people and for people).”

Shelf noteGood product work balances feasibility, viability, and desirability while treating observation and iteration as part of the system.