Procrastination is triage with a machete and a blindfold. Hackers are min-maxers. Python is the programming language equivalent of juggling one ball. In order to exceed expectations, you first have to meet expectations. The bottom always eats the top. You have to be nice before you can be mean. With very few exceptions, every single […]
Category Archives: Management
TripAdvisor has been growing ever since I joined almost five years ago. In that time we’ve gone from around 80 to 200 engineers, and occasionally I’ll be asked in an interview whether I’m concerned about how fast we’re growing. The thing is, I’ll reply, there are two ways to scale an engineering organization – fast, […]
I screw up, all the time. Mostly little stuff, but sometimes not. Most of the time I’m letting myself down – not working out when I’d planned, snacking at work, staying up later than I should because I’m surfing the internet (do people even call it that anymore?). Nothing, though, equals the gut-churning feeling of […]
Dear _____, Welcome to the team! We’re very excited that you’re finally here. Here’s your desk, your MacBook Pro, your Linux workstation, monitor, etc. etc. Of course, get whatever keyboard you want (this one is surprisingly popular), and let me know if you need any other equipment. Most people use Eclipse, but feel free to […]
A Tale of Two Cities A couple of years ago, I got the dreaded phone call. I left work, packed up my family, and drove down to Philadelphia to say goodbye to my dad. As we drew close to the city and my mobile phone’s battery hit single digits, we randomly chose a hotel near […]
Growing up, I always imagined that there would come a time when, suddenly, I would be an adult. When I would look like the adults around me, talk like them, act like them, and feel like I imagined they felt. Childhood stretched into adolescence, I left for college, lived abroad, took on different workplace responsibilities, […]
The following are concepts from psychology that are important for you to understand. They form a key foundation for understanding why people do the things they do, particularly in extremis. All of these phenomena relate specifically to decision-making, will power, and reacting under intense pressure – most are also common experiences, which is why it’s […]
Transitions are always the hardest times. Even when all of the decisions have been made and you’re just waiting for things to play out, it’s emotionally uncomfortable to be betwixt and between. Frequently, though, the situation is more ambiguous – everything’s up in the air, the key decisions haven’t been made, and there isn’t even […]
As I mentioned previously, I’ve been running a reading group for the managers and leads on my teams. We just finished The Power of a Positive No, which was written by one of the authors of the highly influential Getting to Yes. This had been recommended to me by a member of TripAdvisor senior management, […]
Every once in a while, I have a conversation with my four year old that goes something like this: Me: Do you want to go to the playground? Him: YES! Me: No you don’t. Him: I don’t? Me: No, right now you want to lie on the floor, kicking at everything around you. Him (genuinely […]
Dan Dreams of Coding 