Since I graduated from college in 2007, actually even before that during my internships, I had only ever worked in an open office with varying styles of cubes. But in moving to Amazon NYC, I switched to an office with actual rooms. My team isn’t jammed into a row of trading style benches. It’s spread out across three team rooms with actual walls, windows, and doors. And having this has completely changed how I work. […]
It’s tapering time for the next three weeks before the London Marathon and that means it’s time to reflect on training and get ready for the race. The London Marathon will be my sixth marathon, 4/6 of the world major marathons, and my third international one. Though I’m still not completely sure they’ll actually let me in the country as there is still no deal for Brexit, I’m very excited for the race and to […]
Weekend days with twins in the midst of terrible twos is never easy. Staying at home for two whole days tends to be a recipe for stress, anxiety, and tears; sometimes even from the children. Getting out of the house is a good way to stay entertained and limit tantrums and fights over weekends that should be time for families. Finding the right way to spend a weekend with the kids can make or break […]
I’m a huge proponent of Continuous Integration and Deployments. I believe that the fast feedback cycle these processes enable is hugely beneficial to a software development team, and allows teams to get beneficial features out to customers faster. However, it is far from a silver bullet, and there are many steps teams need to take before they can be successful in leveraging Continuous Deployments. This is the story of how I learned this lesson the […]
Can you really travel the world all without hoping on a plane? Well if that world is the world of coffee, it’s certainly possible to circumnavigate the globe all within a few blocks in New York City. From Italy to Australia and everywhere between, some of the world’s best coffee styles and shops are all easy to find between Port Authority and Penn Station. There’s no substitute to actually going around the world to experience […]
My first time in Berlin, I left thinking, “it’s alright, but it’s not Germany.” My second time, knowing a bit more of what to expect, I liked it more, but still didn’t love it, maybe because I visited in the depth of winter and during a cold streak. The third time though, during the marathon in the fall, I absolutely loved it. It may be different than the more traditional towns and villages around the […]
Should a new team focus on moving as fast as possible to get features out to their customers or start with the best practices and processes they know they’ll eventually need? Is it better to move fast and learn from users through a short feedback loop? If so, is a team doomed to suffer poor architectural decisions and accumulate massive tech debt until eventually someone decides to stop features and blow up the system? While […]
Last year I made a resolution to read more non-fiction and seek out books to expand my knowledge for business and leadership. Ready with my library card, Kindle, and of course Audible account, I read an astonishing 80 books in 2018. Many of them focused on business and leadership. I wanted to share some of my favorites from the year here. Some of the best books I read and the ones that stuck with me […]
When I started my new job at Amazon, I had the option to switch laptops. I’d been using a MacBook Pro for the last 5 or 6 years, and decided it was time to go back to Windows. My first day, a brand new HP Elitebook awaited me, and though it’s only been a week, I’m quite happy with the decision. Though I miss some parts of the Mac, I’ve already found a ton of […]
Raising twin boys brings a ton of joy, but for all the double snuggles, there are just as many times when it means double the fighting. Thankfully they aren’t yet big enough to do serious damage to each other, but it means it’s time to teach them to stop it now, before they can. Unfortunately, teaching them that expressing themselves in other ways goes against many cultural norms and is likely to get derailed by […]