Work, ideas, hobbies
There are two ways to get to Spenser Grayson's house from Amherst Regional Jr. High School. The most common is to drive down Rt 9, take a right from Echo Park townhouses, meander the long bend, pass the dump, and into the maple leafed wealthy sub-division of Amherst
This is part two of a two part essay on the lack of community and the ensuing mental health crisis caused by social media and ubiquitious devices (mobile mostly).   Part one is here . The graph above is from Johnathan Haidt’s “ The Anxious Generation ”. The book
This column explores why we have waiting time between different steps in the software development life cycle and what we can do to eliminate them and iterate quicker – going from idea to execution to insight in less time and finding PMF faster. What’s the slowest part of
We’re all looking to move faster, but when the direction we’re moving in is unclear, it’s important we come up for air frequently. Here are some practices to adopt and to avoid when operating in a complex environment. Mastery at a startup is understanding
This post will show you mental models and tactics to help you plan less, build less, learn faster and keep your teams communicating effectively in these complex environments. We all want to “move faster.” But speed is a sneaky thing to measure. While speed in execution is great,
This post is about a post-surgical (sinus) complication I had 10 days ago which landed me in the ER with a lot of blood loss and an emergency surgery.  I'm safe now and mostly recovered. I hope this story helps you in your life. "I will
(x-post from https://jacobsingh.substack.com/p/how-to-start-a-product-engineering ) As startups evolve, their org structures must evolve to match the evolving needs of the company. Cross-functional product teams give way to matrixed shared services teams w/ and eventually to internal product orgs aka “platform teams”. This article will specifically
Most conflicts are between two well meaning people who love each other: Usually there is a misunderstanding when one person says something that hurts they other unintentionally. The first reaction comes from a place of anger or feeling disrespected. That reaction usually overstates the hurt, and comes in 3 forms:
The word agile is pretty frustrating.  Not because it's the wrong word, but because it's been so badly coopted it longer means anything. At the heart of it, Agile software development is simply the practice of executing work in small batches, measuring the impact quickly,
To all my friends who are still unvaccinated: It is a personal choice, and I respect your freedom to make it.  And I still care about you. However, there is also a public health consequence.  The R value for vaccinated people passing to vaccinated people is far below
Being a leader, you are frequently privy to what people think about other people in your organization and related organizations.  This isn't a bad thing - it is part of being a safe space for your team.  But it can cloud your judgement.  And sometimes,
India recently launched vaccinations for people in the 18-45 age group.  Unfortunately, only a few centers are currently offering vaccines in this age group and they fill up fast. The Co-win site currently has no way to filter only for sites catering to the younger age group. So I
People lower down the chain do not mind having direction set for them.  In fact it’s usually appreciated if it’s really clear.  What they don’t like is having goals set for them.   What’s the difference? A direction is a
Why I write and what it gets me
Sometimes, I'm presented with a decision which seems pretty drastic, or affects a lot of people. When there is not a clear consensus on what to do, I try to look for the minimal possible change. Minimal possible change, minimal time-frame to evaluate. This means less disagreement around