by John Macdonald | Feb 8, 2026 | Human, The250
We think the universe is about 13.8 billion years old. If we laid that out on the ground at 13.8 miles, your lifetime is about 1/2 an inch. If we put 13.8 billion years into a 24-hour day, all of human civilization shows up in the last blink before 11:59:59. We think... by John Macdonald | Feb 7, 2026 | AI, Leadership, The250
It’s not, really, but some things are. Take a day in the 50’s (F). That feels cold in July, but warm in February. Push harder motivates if the team has headroom, but it’s destructive when the team is already drowning. The relative load of the individuals and the... by John Macdonald | Feb 6, 2026 | AI, The250
Now we’re at the point in software development where we have agents talking to agents to create code. One of the best use cases for agentic conversation is “the skeptic.” Here’s how that works. One agent writes code, and we pass that code to The Skeptic. The Skeptic... by John Macdonald | Feb 5, 2026 | AI, The250
If you’ve been doing something a long time, it can be hard to teach someone else. I can stop on ice skates, but I struggle to teach new skaters how to do it. For me, I just think it, and it happens. I’ve been skating for over 50 years. I can play Master of Puppets on... by John Macdonald | Feb 4, 2026 | The250
We use this expression when we’re feeling overwhelmed by information or by requests. If you’re not diligent, you can drown. Here’s how you avoid drowning when drinking from the fire hose: You can’t drink it all. Acknowledge to yourself right up front that...