Without fail, when you tell me about a new productivity system, editor, or typeface, I will drop everything I am doing and give your new productivity system, editor, or typeface a whirl. This happens weekly. It’s a problem. The majority of these excursions are brief and can be summarized thusly: Install the thing. Use the… More
Tech Life
Five Pages
Whoooooooooo. You looked stressed. I know, right? First, it was a joke. Then it was unimaginable. Then unthinkable. Improbable. Unlikely. Then it happened and now we’re are all wondering, “When will it get worse?” Still not sleeping well? Me either. Are you reading the news? Me either. I’m 165 pages into the history of the… More
The Likeability Feedback Loop
For years, the numbers of comments on articles here have decreased. Comment-worthy articles from five years ago would get dozens and sometimes hundreds of comments. Similarly trafficked articles from the past few years get a handful. It is not without pain, but I believe open comments are part of the deal with running a weblog.… More
Shaping Your Slack
I’m actively a part of five different Slack teams. The four teams other than Slack HQ1 fall into two distinct profiles: Social: A couple of dozen of humans all hanging in a single channel. There may be other one-off channels created, but the vast majority of the message traffic lands in #general (or equivalent) or… More
How I Slack
This is the original version of this post. There’s a brand new one designed how Slack works in 2022. I’m leaving this one as a historical artifact. Each Slack team I’m on has a different set of humans building their own unique communication culture. I’m actively on six teams: SlackHQ, Leadership, Destiny, two private nerd… More
The Cave Essentials
My favorite feature of my home office is the paint on the walls. It’s blood red. I’m talking deep scarlet burgundy. The ceiling is a single solid red, but the walls are a macabre mix of every horror film red on top of a slightly textured wall. When people walk in the office, it’s this… More
The Illusion of Competence
My favorite moment playing hockey is literally a moment. The puck gets passed to me just behind the net, I look up across and I ask myself a simple question, “Hmmm, what am I going to do here?” In less than an instant, I do the following: Who are the two closest players on the… More
Why I Slack
Earlier this year, I ran a survey to get ideas about how leaders could mobilize. 1311 of you filled out the survey which mean I’m certain the results are full of good ideas and inspiration. It also means I have to mine them. An obvious mobilization tactic was a mailing list. Sure, it’s old school,… More
Holy Shit Moments
I showed up late to drones. A few weeks ago it was my father’s birthday. The reason I am an engineer is that my father is an engineer. (Aside: The reason I am a leader is that I watched all of my mother’s moves as she wrangled my father the engineer.) For the 4th of… More
4am Panic
It’s a definitive characteristic of the people I work with that they sign up for too much. They’re optimists. They believe they can do anything. They’re eternally growing. That’s the poetry, here’s the reality. There are two paths for these eager optimists. The first path is the individual who is capable of both signing up… More