The Objectives Trap

The people selling life plans tell you that you need to set objectives. Your boss, shareholders, or HR department tells you that you need to set objectives. And then, of course, you gotta measure yourself against these objectives. What happens if you meet all of your...

The Dark Grey Cloud

I can see most storms coming my way. I look out my window, to the west, across the farm field, and see the grey cloud. Gathering darkness as it creeps closer to the hill on the other side of that field. It’s over there. Not here. I see one now. Impending. The cloud...

The Day is Young

Normally, you hear, “The night is young!” A mantra to keep the party going. We don’t know what might happen, and this could be the best night of your life (if you’re willing to keep the party going). Fine, but why not the day? Work happens during the day....

Running in CRisis Mode

We all can run in crisis mode for a time, and it can be fruitful. But it can’t last forever. If crisis mode just becomes “our mode,” a few things happen. We forget how to work on important things. We forget how to plan out what the important things are. We forget how...

It’s New Model Day!

Opus 4.7 hit the planet yesterday. For engineers, new model day has become like Christmas Day for an 8-year old. “What great new stuff can I do with this?!” Maybe new model day should have it’s own named holiday. I’ve already got it in my agent configs and have moved...

Trust Stories

Evidence. Data. Hypotheses. Findings. Conclusions. “This is what this means.” The first should be objective (assuming proper instruments, methods, and measurements) and hopefully complete. That’s the truth. The second is the story about the first. Human...

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