I recently heard someone say that using a design system took all of the creativity away from the designer. I found this point of view troubling and ultimately think it leads to unhappy designers and poor software. Many designers get into design as a career because as children they liked…
I have been a political observer since 1980. I remember watching Reagan beat Carter and Anderson on TV. My political leanings have always been towards empathy, logic, helping the most people, and progress. Between Republican and Democrat, democrats have more closely aligned with this point of view. This is not…
I don’t smoke or drink or go on fancy vacations. I do have one expensive vice though. Once every 8 years or so I will purchase the latest greatest television experience. I bought a 250 lbs 55” HDTV monster in 1998 before HD content was even available. In 2013, I…
Whenever I see people disagree about anything, I look for the differing predictions baked into their points of view. I blogged previously about why people disagree. Last Thursday, Biden and Trump had a debate. Objectively, it was a bad night for Trump and a horrific night for Biden. Trump lied…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…