- Do no harm to systems or people when working with them
- Measure & communicate the business value of all things technical & insure comprehension of said value
- Good Software Architecture rarely happens by accident
- The simplest solution is usually the better choice
- Everything in moderation, even excess
- I don’t know what I don’t know but, I’m on a quest to find out
- It’s better to solve problems than fix symptoms
- Logistics & managing expectations are fundamental to writing good software
- In theory, theory & reality are equal; in reality they are different... plan accordingly
- We’ll have a scheduled 1:1 (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly; your choice). I’ll never (within reason) cancel this meeting, but you can cancel it whenever you like for any reason (no judgement). It’s your time. Our 1:1 agenda will be in the meeting invite so we remember important topics. But you’re always free to use the time for whatever’s on your mind.
- When I schedule a meeting with you, I’ll always say when I schedule it what it’s meant to be about. I will not schedule meetings without an agenda (there will be times that agenda is vague 😃).
- When I drop into your DM’s, I’ll always say “oy (hi) and why.” No suspense, no small talk while you are wondering what I want.
- News or announcements that significantly impact you, your work, or your team will, within reason, come from me directly in a 1:1 or tiny-team meeting, not revealed in a big meeting.
- You’ll get feedback from me when it’s fresh. There will be no feedback in your performance review that you’re hearing for the first time.
- I trust you to manage your own time. You don’t need to clear with me in advance your time… but, please keep your calendar up-to-date. When/if working remote, please be sure to keep your "status" reasonably updated (i.e. out for lunch, etc) if you're out for more than 30 mins. I'm not checking to monitor your status and/or nit-pick, it's more of a "courtesy thing" to everyone (i.e. an ad-hoc meetings needs to take place).
- Your work gets done your way (within reason). My focus is on outcomes, not effort/output. Once we’re clear on where we need to go, how to get there is up to you. I might suggest specific approaches and try to supply examples but, we’re colleagues and, if the nature of the work allows for it, they are just my suggestions. However, security and mandatory corporate protocols are non-negotiable.
- A team is strongest when it’s working together, looking after one another, and taking care of each other. Please think critically and laterally (not just linearly) for opportunities to help your colleagues. Please ask for help when you need it. Nobody works alone or should feel alone on the team.
- I trust you to skip levels and talk to my manager or other senior management about anything you feel is relevant. You don’t need to clear it with me, and I’m not going to get all weird about it if/when you do. If you feel it appropriate, just cc me on it and/or mention it in daily stand-ups.
- I will attribute credit appropriately to you (and your team). I will never exaggerate my own role or minimize your contribution. I’ll be especially certain to nail down attribution when senior management are hearing of our accomplishments.
- I've been writing code since 1978... started with Apple Basic, went on to write Assembler, Lisp, C, C++, Java, C#, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Rust... and much more
- My current favortie programing language is Rust... it's bare-metal-old-school but, w/fresh mem-safe & thread-safe guards built into both the compile-time and runtime
- I love to snowboard
- I love to break the speed limit on my motorcycle (Ducati Monster 1100)... going 165mph has a calming effect on me
- I have my private pilots licence, I have about 300hrs of flight time
- I have my full cave-diving certificat (that's scuba-diving in under water caves) and have been to a max depth of 215 ft in freshwater cave systems/aquifers
- I've jumped out of plains (with a parashoot, of course) more than a dozen time... I've also, bungi jumped about 1/2 dozen times... jumping outta plains is more fun
- I'm happly married, two daughters & three grandkids... if I'm not coding on the weekends, I'm corrupting my grandkids