Distributed Thoughts

Distributed Thoughts

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Open Studies: Changing How We Understand Tech Trends

Open Studies: Changing How We Understand Tech Trends

I have spent a lot of time with various types of studies throughout my career. Scientific studies, market research, data warehouses, they have all opened new paths. I love digging into the data myself. It is clear though, big companies run most studies we see. They ask us to fill

RubyMoney: Reflecting on 15 Years of Open Source Leadership

RubyMoney: Reflecting on 15 Years of Open Source Leadership

Solving a Real Problem When I took on RubyMoney, it was driven by a need in my day job for accurate financial calculations. The Money Gem existed, but it required enhancements for our complex needs. This need initiated a 15-year journey, transforming a simple improvement into a cornerstone of the

Mediating Peace

Mediating Peace

An examination of the roles of mediators through the lens of the Aceh Peace Negotiations. The essence of mediation is persuasion, not coercion. - Kjell Skjelsbæk [14] Introduction Martti Ahtisaari is a world-renowned mediator. Ahtisaari has been instrumental in some of the largest international negotiations in the recent past, including

Digital Carrots

Digital Carrots

It may be a terminology glitch, but is there no better way to align AI models than through manipulation with rewards and punishments? We are programming these algorithms to chase after digital carrots. Is the Pavlovian method all we have? It is practical to an extent, but it is also

The Creative Evolution

The Creative Evolution

Reflecting on AI's role in our evolving work landscape, I am struck by a compelling thought: every significant technological advancement nudges us toward a society rich in creativity. From the dawn of agriculture to the advent of AI, each innovation has systematically freed us from survival-focused labor, paving

AI Adoption: Learning From The Rollout of BYOD

AI Adoption: Learning From The Rollout of BYOD

Over the past few weeks, I have been digging deeper into our conversation about AI transparency. The poll we ran showed a lean toward an opt-out model, but after numerous discussions, I have gathered that such a model might only be feasible for some businesses. AI is reshaping how we

Navigating the Complexities of AI Transparency in Software Development

Navigating the Complexities of AI Transparency in Software Development

Lately I have been mulling over AI and its place in our software landscape. A recurring thought keeps surfacing: how do we handle transparency when AI is part of our products? Take chat interfaces, for example. It appears straightforward: tell people they are interacting with AI. But what about the

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Leadership Challenge, Abolish Slides

As covid continues to sentence teams to mandatory work from home, I sense a creeping dread. The unspoken question ahead of each virtual meeting, “will we be subjected to another slide deck?” While we as leaders cannot commute the judgment covid has passed, we can make the time served less

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My Remote Leadership Best Practices

Below is a slightly modified version of an email I sent to a peer group as covid set in. Their companies had become "remote" overnight, and they were looking for insights. I also shared this recently with our leadership team as a reminder of my personal best practices

Why Bets?

Bets are a more honest description of our confidence in the actions we are planning. Given the apprehension I sense around betting, I want to share my reasoning for explicitly talking in bets.

What Kind of Team Are We?

At TeamSnap, we are discussing being “one team.” This is a powerful concept, and it has me wondering, “what kind of team are we?”