In a strong engineering organization, there are typically two main technical leadership tracks. Different companies have different names for them, and their responsibilities can sometimes overlap, but for the sake of this discussion let’s call them “leads” and “managers.” The lead is the alpha nerd – this is the engineer who guides the team technically, […]
I had a conversation with a coworker a while back, who asserted that every manager would take out his bad mood on his direct reports. This was said without rancor, challenge, or apology – it was stated as an axiomatic principle, in the same tone of voice that might convey a lack of interest in […]
There appears to be a little confusion about what the Internet is, why it exists, and its rules of use. So, as a public service, I offer the following gentle reminder. The internet is not a safe playground. It is a dark, dangerous, occasionally beautiful and sometimes fatal window into the dreams and nightmares of […]
So, it’s time again for my monthly digression from technical and management issues, in which I report on my attempt to lose weight, get back into shape, and generally be healthier in a long-term, sustainable way. Every month since the beginning of the year I’ve either added a new exercise requirement, or a new limitation on unhealthy […]
I was talking with a coworker recently, who described how bad design just pisses him off. He can’t stop his brain from picking an app apart and figuring out what does and doesn’t work. Bad design offends him, as though someone had intentionally decided to seed their lawn with broken glass. The world is a complicated, busy […]
It’s campus recruiting season again, which means that career fairs will soon be flooded with hopeful companies looking to find the next generation of amazing students to build their paradigm-shattering, game-changing, world-beating visions of glory. Or CRUD database apps. Whichever. This is also the time when people like me write blog posts about how to […]
I sometimes have dreams where someone’s trying to shoot me. They shoot, and I run, and I don’t look back, and – lucky me! – they miss. Such is the logic of dreams. Working in product development can sometimes feel like that. You add a feature with a big new data store, and – poof! – […]
For those of you new to the blog, this is my monthly report on my attempt to use shame, peer pressure, and financial disincentives to get into shape. August was a strange month. For starters, at the beginning of the month I went on a week-long vacation with family, during which I ate, drank, and generally […]
As I’ve moved into my new operations role, I’ve been continually struck by just how much everyone around me knows. They all seem like polymath geniuses, weaving together a dozen different knowledge domains to come to startlingly insightful diagnoses of intractably obscure problems. Coding a clever algorithm is all very well and good, but that doesn’t get […]
Being in close quarters, away from your own bed, pillow, clothes, shower, pots and pans – everything that gives you a sense of home and comfort – can be an extremely stressful time that exposes everyone to each other’s worst behavior. Kind of like a normal project getting close to release. There’s so much to do […]
Dan Dreams of Coding 