• Every generation is the same

    We have all these names of people born at different times. We make generalizations about every generation from their preferences, their work ethic, their morality, fashion, and more. Personally, I think every generation is exactly the same as the previous one. For definition sake here is a wikipedia chart. Recently…

  • Review: Brats 2024

    I just watched the documentary Brats on Hulu produced by Andrew McCarthy. I really, really wanted to like this because these movies really meant alot to me growing up. Unfortunately, I hated the whole thing, nearly every second of it. For those of you who don’t know, I’ll give an…

  • Servant Leadership

    There is a philosophy of management I believe in called Servant Leadership. The easiest way to think about it is that the goal of a leader is to help those around them succeed rather than focus on themselves and their own aspirations. Notice, I didn’t say manager. Anyone can be…

  • Don’t Optimize for Happiness

    It’s weird advice, I know. This comes from a person who has (mostly) been working for 35 years straight. There were several moments in my career when I optimized for happiness, and I regret almost all of those decisions. Ill explain my logic. Financial Independence The reality is that life…

  • Ode to Jim Henson

    I just watched Jim Henson, Idea Man on Disney+. I feel like he needs no introduction, but if don’t know who he is, you can certainly read about him or watch the documentary. To me, Jim Henson has been my Patron Saint and idol since I was a child. I…

  • The Art of Asking Questions

    Curiosity is the hallmark of a great teammate. When I am recruiting people, I will often look for signs of an inquisitive mind. Do they ask questions? More importantly, How do they ask questions? A person who is truly interested in a topic will ask questions in good faith. One…

  • Trusting vs Training Your Team

    I saw a post on LinkedIn that said, “Micromanaging is a sign of a lack of trust. If you don’t trust your team, you will never achieve great things.” This is exactly the kind of thing that gets tons of likes. Unfortunately, I think it’s highly misleading and taken literally…

  • Tesla FSD Trial

    I received this email from Tesla. This came a total surprise to me. They price this package at about $10,000 per car. They also have a month-to-month subscription for it. Needless to say, I had to try it out. I drove to Berkeley and back using complete FSD. Supervision The…

  • Gratitude

    Two business representatives for a sneaker company went to a third world country and saw everyone wore sandals. One came back and said, “It’s no good, no one has sneakers.” The other said, “What do you mean?? This is great! No one has sneakers!” The difference between glass half full…

  • Luck and Timing

    Most people at the beginning of their careers have no idea how much luck and timing will play a role in their lives. Talk to anyone middle aged or older and they will point to numerous moments that were completely random and provided a turning point for their lives. For…

  • How to make a difference

    I was just listening to Hold On a RadioLab podcast. There is a section where they ran an A/B test of the hold music for the national suicide hotline. Note: Suicide is a serious matter and I am sure there are trained professionals in charge of it making the experience…

  • Customizing WordPress Twenty Twenty Four

    I have a particular look and feel that I want on my blog. Every time there is a new theme, I try to recreate the same look and feel in the new theme. I suppose I believe that the new theme will be faster and better than the previous. However,…

  • Design is everywhere

    Everywhere I look, I see design. Design is just decisions, after all. The height of your ceiling, the shape of your shoes, the sound of your doorbell, the way the road bends around natural obstacles; every single thing around you was decided by human beings in the past. Sometimes, that…

  • “Choose your own adventure” Portfolios

    Imagine a product designer portfolio that didn’t say “Hi! i’m <insert name>!” Imagine a portfolio that didn’t have long scrolling case studies and looked like everyone else’s. What if the Home Screen of the portfolio had two linked that said… What do you want to see? Let’s assume you use…