Do you remember your first job? Correction: not your first job, but the first job you wanted. This is my career. This is what I want to do. I don’t want to screw this up. I was a grocery store clerk, a butcher, a video store clerk, the guy who backed up the system onto… more
You need to understand my to-do list process before you read these steps. I strive for a daily inbox-zero task system, which means I can scrub the complete list in less than 10 minutes. The size of individual entries varies. Most can be completed in one work session, but others are project-like tasks where the… more
In our 78th episode, we’re go deep on sandwiches. Great, now I’m hungry. Enjoy it now, or download for later. Here’s a handy feed or subscribe via Overcast or iTunes. https://traffic.libsyn.com/rands/theimportantthing0078.mp3
Destiny. You’ve got some time on your hands right now. It’s the holiday season. You’ve got free time. Take a call. There’s quite a bit of content. Destiny has been around for almost ten years. A lot is going on in that world, but more importantly, they’ve had a lot of time to make the… more
I am delighted to announce The Software Developer’s Career Handbook has been published. I call it the Bird Book because, well, there’s a bird on the cover. The Bird Book is the second edition of Being Geek. The absence of the words “being” and “geek” in the title hints that something is up. Reading the… more
In our 77th episode, we discuss why magic is everywhere. Enjoy it now, or download for later. Here’s a handy feed or subscribe via Overcast or iTunes. https://traffic.libsyn.com/rands/theimportantthing0077.mp3
Why Are We Here? Seems like a good set of people, but everyone is looking at each other, wondering what is happening. It’s nefarious; it’s just.. confusing and agenda-less. Why Am I Here? It seems like a good set of people, but I have no clue how I’m relevant to this meeting. I will sit… more
When your favorite software tool receives a major update, it’s all dread. It’s not you expect them to ruin the application (although possible); it is because it’s your favorite tool, you know all the intricacies of how it works, and you know exactly how you need it to work. This is not a casual tool.… more
You’ve had a small number of career-defining moments. These are the select few moments in time when the trajectory of your career changed instantly and drastically. I have two buckets of these: ones I expected and ones that completely blindsided me. While the surprise and subsequent scrambling involved in being blindsided are chock full of… more
In the hallway, late on Thursday, someone tells a bit of information about your product that is 100% provably not true. You laugh, wink at the person, and say, “That’s goofy. What reasonable human would believe that?” And that conversation moves on. Two hours later, different locations, different humans, and different contexts. Same exact piece… more