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@thirteen37
Last active March 4, 2023 17:38
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Yu-Xi's user guide

Principles

  • Default to "yes": I trust you know what to do, so you rarely need to ask me for affirmation. Exceptions: you aren't clear what to do, or your choices may cause irreversible harm.
  • Default to "open": Ask Me Anything. My intention is to be open and honest. I prefer to over-communicate than under-communicate. Likewise, I greatly value feedback so please be open and honest with me too.

Style

  • I'm quite hands off (I won't tell you how to do your job) but I'm there if you need me (just ask!). I prefer to provide context and broad constraints ("guardrails") and let you apply your skills and knowledge to the problem.
  • I am happy when people feel comfortable and confident enough to challenge me.
  • Most of my discussions (written or F2F) and my calendar are visible to everyone. You're welcome to participate. Unfortunately my work calendar currently cannot be set to visible. But I try my best to conduct my discussions openly and I welcome participation.

Weaknesses

I'm extremely impatient and this manifests in a few ways:

  • I tend to interrupt people when speaking, sometimes jumping to conclusions. I'm very sorry for this and I'm trying hard to improve.
  • Discussions with me can be quite intense ("strong opinions, weakly held") but we will get to a useful outcome. Please be prepared and get to the point so we can be productive.
  • Please don't hide problems for me until they are too big: let me know early and we can work them out together. If you disagree with a plan, please tell me upfront rather than silently deviating.

Getting to know me

  • I nearly always seem aloof and unapproachable at first. Don't let that scare you off. I've been told I'm more bearable after a couple of drinks.
  • I enjoy working in startups and I'm happy to swap war stories.
  • I'm happy to talk about:
    • Food (making and consuming) and coffee,
    • PC gaming, movies, music,
    • Tools of the trade: Text editors (Emacs!), mechanical keyboards, programming languages, custom-built PCs.
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