We know intuitively and from experience that we work better in a complex interdependent task with someone we know and trust, but we are not prepared to spend the effort, time, and money to ensure that such relationships are built. We value such relationships when they are built as part of the work itself, as in military operations where soldiers form intense personal relationships with their buddies. We admire the loyalty to each other and the heroism that is displayed on behalf of someone with whom one has a relationship, but when we see such deep relationships in a business organization, we consider it unusual.
Edgar H. Schein, Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling
Hi! Welcome to the team!
Since we’re going to work together, the following is a sort of ‘instruction manual’ to me and how I work. It addresses the most important things you should know when working with me, including my general work style, principles I believe are important, and some of my many foibles. My intent is to accelerate our working relationship with this document.
Work style
I am an early riser, and do my best work in the morning. I prefer to have meetings in the morning, when my brain is freshest. I’m tough to find in the afternoons.
I have a history of working too much (✋ legitimate workaholic here!), so I try to limit my availability outside work hours. I occasionally work on weekends, but don’t expect me to respond to any communication. That said, you can always send me an email or a Teams message, 24x7. I manage my notifications and will ignore you as appropriate. If you need to get in touch with me no matter what, my manager always has my cell phone number and can text or call.
Principles
Emotions are important. Humans are emotional beings. How we feel about something is almost as relevant as the facts about it. Wisdom is the marriage of the rational and the emotional.
Team and company culture is a critical part of leadership. I think Edgar Schein again says it best:
The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture. If you do not manage culture, it manages you, and you may not even be aware of the extent to which this is happening.
Writing is thinking. For me the act of writing something is the act of thinking through it. I prefer writing and reading to speaking and listening, and I tend to bias towards written communication.
Simplicity above almost everything. I will bias towards things that are simple to explain and simple to use. Applies to designs, plans, the path I take to the bathroom, anything. This is not always the right bias; convince me that complexity is necessary.
There are no special snowflakes. I am biased to treat everyone equally. This isn’t always the right thing to do in business or in life. But my bias is not to jump on that bug just because Satya hit it. My career trajectory may make a lot more sense to you now.
I believe in presenting a united front. I may argue with you bitterly for hours about a design, but when we present it to partners or customers, I want us 100% on the same page. We’re a team, and we speak with one voice. If you ever think I’ve violated this principal please call me on it.
Working with me
I’m an introvert. People exhaust me. Literally. I struggle to communicate when meeting people initially, and I can be socially awkward when I’m only slightly nervous. Smaller groups work best for me for meetings, and 1:1s are ok too. Oddly, public speaking isn’t a problem for me, nor is acting on stage.
I’m an optimistic grouch. I can be grouchy. Like Oscar. But it’s usually because I am optimistic that things will be better, and am frustrated that we’re not there yet! I criticize because I care. The moment I think something is awesome it’s a sign I’ve moved on. I’m no longer thinking critically about it.
I would rather run headlong in the wrong direction than stare longingly in the right one. Ideas are cheap; execution matters. It is important to me that I produce something tangible as part of my work, and I don’t like to sit around talking about what we could be doing when we could be, you know, doing those things.
Draw it for me. I am very visually oriented. Diagrams are fantastic; graphs are the bees knees. Big monitors with densely packed pixels are better. I like to draw diagrams. For everything. With arrows. Sometimes the arrows go nowhere. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense; sometimes I just need a visual anchor while we talk.
Argue with me. I am a strong believer in arguing with conviction. That means that sometimes I may sound more convinced of something than I am. Intelligent disagreement and debate leads to better outcomes, in my experience. I am open to changing my mind about most anything, in the face of new information. Strong opinions, loosely held.
I look at things in terms of “problems to be solved.” If you’re looking for my input on something, help me understand the problems you’re trying to solve first. This applies to technical, interpersonal, and political issues. Help me understand what you think the problem is.
I can be lazy, impatient, and arrogant. I believe that these are often good qualities in my line of work, but they sometimes get the better of me.
Ask, don’t tell. I react incredibly poorly to being told what to do. On the other hand, I love to help people, so just ask!
Insights colors
If you’ve been at Microsoft for the past few years, then you’ve probably done some Insights training. If that’s the case, you might find it helpful to know that I am Green-Blue-Red-Yellow.
Miscellany
This is a living document and as such will change as I learn more about myself and how I work.
Changelog
Email for everything you want me to remember. I am old school. I have Outlook rules curated across 15
years of Microsoft experience. I have a private bytecode patch written for me by an Outlook engineer that makes unholy
things possible. I don’t need your fancy new communications tech. Just freakin’ email me. No permissions issues. No IRM
bullshit. Just freakin’ email me.
I’m working on this.
I have two delivery timeframes for tasks: Soon, or close to never. I’m working on this.
Last updated May 30, 2024