It feels like watching a land mass splinter into pieces in fast forward, dividing a single species into many; Darwin’s finches. Let’s hit pause, rewind, play to figure out what’s happening.
Let’s start with the situation at Columbia University. It …
My grandmother used to remind me - typically in response to an inexplicable decision I had made - that when I was 5 years old I told her: Grandma, I’m a player, not a worker. Hard to say if I …
Progressives must today be “anti racist”. Complexity and nuance has been collapsed into a one-dimensional axis of oppressor/oppressed. This is based on immutable things like racial identities; character is irrelevant.
The word evil has lost meaning. This matters because when …
Post; hit publish; share. To share is to leave a record, a residue of our having existed. It's modern cave painting.
Contemplation is invisible, time consuming and hard. To understand and not share is to question whether the contemplation happened. …
We walk down the street. “5” he says. “hmm”, I ask? “5. That’s how many people I’ve seen in the window in my life”.
We continue walking. I look up, noticing the figure in the window. He’s running background jobs, …
Decisions, options and overwhelm destroy clear thinking.
What is it you would miss if your time was cut short?
This question tends to cut through most of the cruff. Visualize it. That feels like a good way in to the …
It's a marathon. Or maybe it's a series of sprints. Whatever it is, the thing that's important is to notice fatige. Sometimes struggling against a specific problem, or even trudging one foot in front of the other in a general …
Overwhelm is the enemy of craft. The rush, the deadline, the stress. On it goes. Fear underlies this. What is the fear? What if I miss the deadline? Will I be mocked? Get a bad review? Fired?
How can we …
Bill Gates codes programs on a sheet of paper that he will later punch into the computer; Feynman scribbles equations describing a spinning plate (related to his Nobel Prize) in the school cafeteria; Sherlock Holmes; The guy working out in …
Hard things make us better. It’s what we were designed for. If you doubt this, ask: why does my body - as if by magic - adapt to these hard things? When I lift a weight repeatedly I will be …
I finally understand the dictum to "know thyself".
I am grateful for the struggles before me. They aren't fair. People are making decisions without the full information....etc. etc. But I do genuinely mean it that I'm grateful for these issues …
Upside down is true.
I flip over into a handstand. My love walks on the wooden floor. She is upside down. My perspective is different. But is it wrong to say that shw is walking on the ceiling? Nope - …
My son is 11 years old, almost 12. Statistically we spend 80%+ of the time we ever will with our children by the time they are 18 years old. By that standard we are half way done already. And yet …
As a child I recall falling asleep staring at my night light. An array of yellow-orange light beams danced through liquid eyelids. They were the closest thing to a connection I knew. I was thinking about this as I dozed …
Before engaging in play, it's good to obsess over the board. What do I mean? It's been my experience that certain tactile or visceral components will set my mind racing about possibilities. And these …
I’ve been taking time off work for the past few months to focus on cancer treatment. Healing is my singular goal in life. If all goes perfectly g-d willing I’ll be done with all this by end of December. That …
I’ve heard people say it’s good to make your bed. I figured I’d take this advice literally. So, I made my bed.
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People say you should make your bed. So I did. A 4-poster bed. Nothing too fancy. Each night when I go to sleep I look throught the frame I built. It's a good and small reminder to cultivate the ability …
I recently read “Scrum” and several points hit home. In reflecting on my own intellectual and creative pursuits. While I’ve been doing product for well over a decade now there are definitely areas of continued improvement that are needed.
The frisbee veers into the brush. Lua and I walk over. As we crouch over the planter box I look down and notice green protruding jaws cup two tablespoons of water. As I inch closer, I notice white spots, patterns …
Today I reviewed my year. I stared at the sheet of paper - a ledger weighing the good and the bad. As I stared at the page, a question: how many sublime moments did I have? So I added a …
Open loops are a recipe for frustration. But it's worse to gloss over them. That compounds the issue.
I pass over a graveyard. If I had to guess I would say the overwhelming majority of bones beneath the stones had …
We often think of quality as embedded within a product. Does the product have the capabilities and craftsmanship I would expect? Is it well built? Does it function well? Those all matter, of course. But quality is as much in …
Holding onto work too long leads to stagnation, like part of a river branch flowing into a dead end swamp.
A good outcome for showing work is either some fundamental flaw is exposed or tweaks suggested to optimize it. Either …
Today I reviewed my year. I stared at the sheet of paper - a ledger weighing the good and the bad. As I stared at the page, a question: how many sublime moments did I have?
So I added a …
