Writing

23 posts, newest first. Also available as RSS or by tag.

2024
My 2024 Year in Review
Another year down and another chance to reflect on action and inaction. This past year has felt lacking in many ways, at least on the surface. I think this is mostly the case when viewed through the lens of this blog. I certainly didn't do much with the blog this year, and to be honest, barely tracked my goals.
30 December 2024
- strategy
- year-in-review
The Forgotten Art of Deep Work in a Distracted Digital Age
When is the last time you actually focused on a single task? Truly, deeply, focused on a task? For too many of us, without realizing it, it has been too long.
14 October 2024
- productivity
My 2023 Year in Review
The fact that this post isn't being published until late in January 2024 pretty much reflects the state of my blog over the past year. I completely neglected my blog in 2023 so it's fitting that I'm late in posting what my 2023 looked like. So, without further delay, let's get into it.
21 January 2024
- strategy
- year-in-review
2023
My 2022 Year in Review
2022, I barely knew you. This year seems to have moved so fast, I can't believe it's over. Welcome to another Year in Review post where I spend a bit of time reflecting on what happened last year to hopefully position myself better for the year to come. If you are interested, check out my 2020 and 2021 reviews.
2 January 2023
- strategy
- year-in-review
2022
5 Daily Habits for Technical Leaders
As a technical leader, you likely have a lot on your plate. Between managing your team, staying on top of industry trends, and making important business decisions, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and lose sight of the small, daily habits that can help you be more effective and successful in your role.
31 December 2022
- strategy
2021
My 2021 Year in Review
Welcome to another Year in Review—where I spend a bit of time reflecting on what happened last year to hopefully position myself better for the year to come.
31 December 2021
- strategy
- year-in-review
The Importance of Product Design and Your Face
I just received the November 2021 print issue of Wired magazine at the house and there's an interesting Chartgeist graphic by Jon J. Eilenberg inside. The diagram plots the relationship of tech intended for your face in terms of both style and creepiness.
11 November 2021
- emerging-technology
Why My First Foray Into Deep Work Failed
Toward the end of 2020 I watched a Lex Friedman video on YouTube where he went over his daily routine. I found it fascinating for some reason and was especially interested in what he was calling Deep Work. The concept seemed like something that would work for me given the need for more focused work time.
5 November 2021
What Humans Can Do to Really Make Autonomous Driving a Thing
Some day, hopefully soon, I'll have a Tesla. With this thought in mind I tend to find myself contemplating Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), most often while manually driving my current car. What really gets me thinking is when I'm driving down a road that's a bit off the beaten path.
28 October 2021
- emerging-technology
What's Better Than a Generalist or Specialist?
When I first started out in the technology industry back in the mid-90s, things were much simpler. There were a limited number of programming languages, a typical way of building applications, rather mundane architectures, and minimal toolkits.
18 October 2021
- business
- strategy
Why I Moved My Blog from Gatsby Back to Wordpress
I have been building websites and blogging for the last 5+ years using self-hosted Wordpress sites. This approach worked well for what I was doing, including building my own personal website. At the same time I felt—as a former coder and someone in the technology industry—I should probably be coding my own website.
30 September 2021
One Thing Developers Can Improve in Their Next Sprint
I’ve held many roles within the agile software development lifecycle, from developer to architect to scrum master. The one mistake I’ve seen developers commit over and over again is not including a sufficient level of detail in their user stories.
22 January 2021
- application-development
4 Mistakes You Don't Know You are Making as a Tech Lead
When you are a tech lead there's no doubt that you have a lot on your plate. You not only have the responsibility of setting the technical direction for your team, but you also need to be in control of managing them.
19 January 2021
- application-development
- leadership
My 2020 Year in Review
Over the last several years I've been a bit more diligent in documenting and measuring my annual goals, both personally and professionally. This allows me to establish a framework for the coming year while also providing me guidelines and reference points along the way.
2 January 2021
- entrepreneur
- year-in-review
2020
How to integrate UiPath with GitLab
Building bots can be fun. Losing your code, not so much. I've recently been building random attended bots using UiPath to automate things in my life and to generally play around with the technology. As some of these projects have matured to the point of utility, I've since started thinking about how to protect my code.
19 October 2020
How to Automate Your Team's Daily Status Report with Slack, Zapier, and Google Apps Script
See how a team working from home during the pandemic is able to automate the creation and submission of their daily status reports using simple tools like Slack, Zapier, and Google Apps Script.
30 September 2020
- application-development
- automation
2017
6 Ways to Hack Your Learning Process for Sustainable Personal Growth
Change is rapid in the world today. Continuous learning is how you change with it. Knowledge is power. A simple adage that has lost some luster due to overuse and dismissive familiarity. Yet never before has knowledge been more powerful than in today’s hyper-competitive business landscape.
16 June 2017
4 Limiting Beliefs Sabotaging Your Business Growth
Be careful who you compare yourself to. I have a special notebook in Evernote labeled “sidebars.” This is where I store all of my grand ideas that are sure to dazzle the market and drive my business to breathtaking success.
20 March 2017
- business
- inspiration
2016
The 4 Daily Mistakes Killing Your Creativity
Generating the quality content needed to be heard above the roar requires getting it right, every day. It has long been said in the online business space that “content is king,” But you don’t want your message to be just another king, do you?
21 November 2016
- business
- creativity
4 Ways to Turn Your Perspective Into Power
How you approach situations makes a difference in the outcome. “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or we can rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” That is a powerful statement from Abraham Lincoln that illustrates both the power and the problem with perspective.
30 October 2016
- business
- strategy
10 Business Lessons Extracted From Classic Novels
There is a wonderful feeling when you buy a new book. A youthful feeling of anxious anticipation slips over you as you break it open, and escape into the world crafted by the author. Given your high expectations, the first few sentences have an obligation to immediately grab your attention.
18 July 2016
- business
- inspiration
5 Ways New Entrepreneurs Can Ease Information Overload
Have you ever heard the phrase, “drinking from a fire hose?” Well, that’s what it’s like when you are a brand new entrepreneur. Not only are you inundated with information and how-to’s, but you are also overwhelmed with everything you want to get done.
15 July 2016
3 Ways the Be-Everywhere Strategy Leads You Nowhere
When you first begin your journey as an online entrepreneur, you are quickly introduced to a number of experts, gurus and even a few ninjas. All of them offering actionable advice for those trying to succeed in their quest of pursuing the work they love.
16 June 2016