Three Strategies for Working Solo as a Junior Developer

Recently, I was in a position where I was the only developer assigned to my project. Not for too long, as it turned out, but initially, I didn’t know how long I’d have to fly solo. As a more junior-level developer, the thought of working alone for an indeterminate amount of time was terrifying. However, […]

Grit: Why You Want the Tough Stuff

In early 2013, while working for a previous employer, I realized that we had a problem. I learned that a client for whom we were actively developing software had not been paying their bills. I had a large development team working very hard, and we were in the middle of a multi-month project. This client […]

Jumping into an Established Codebase as a Junior Developer

Joining a project with an established codebase is tricky. There’s a significant amount of information to absorb, there may be new technologies to learn, and there’s usually a lot of code to read! These are five techniques I’ve used for finding sure footing in a codebase as a junior developer.

Lessons Learned from Atomic FC’s First Season

This summer, there was enough interest at Atomic for us to put together a soccer team to play in a local summer league. It was fun (we even had non-players turn up to support), helped bond us together as colleagues, and even provided some learning opportunities that could be used at work.

Refusing to Be the Victim – How to Adopt a “Player” Mindset at Work

We all have times when we experience negative feelings like unfairness, lack of control, or frustration. When this happens, we can play the victim or we can choose to take responsibility for making the best of our situation. I recently read Fred Kofman’s book Conscious Business, which gave me a new way of looking at […]

An Introduction to Ghost – A Headless, Open-Source CMS

Ghost is the number-one, open-source, headless Node.js CMS. Essentially, it’s a customizable platform for running blogs, magazines, or journals. It’s fully open-source and runs blogs including OpenAI, DigitalOcean, and Mozilla.

How to Build Confidence Through Consulting

Consulting can be a scary business. Folks bring unique, challenging problems and ask you to solve them within a tight timeline. If you’re a planner and you like knowing what the path to completion looks like, this can be stressful. Learning to work confidently in these spaces is one of the great gifts I’ve received […]

Help Me, Help Me: My Experiment Taking Self-Help Seriously

Here’s the thing about self-help books: They contain wisdom, but something about them makes my eyes roll. As I read, I often agree with their thesis, but my inner soundtrack of “yes, but”s disputes the advice. I am so adept at contradicting the advice of self-help books that I’ve become immune to their teachings. Then […]

Managing Your Career in Tech – Part 2: Leverage OKRs for Personal Growth

Yesterday, I outlined some ways to take ownership of finding meaning at work. But taking ownership of your own career and aligning your personal sense of purpose with your purpose at work isn’t enough to find success. You also need to execute consistently in areas that make this alignment real. To do this, you need […]

Managing Your Career in Tech – Part 1: Make Work Matter

It’s an amazing time to work in technology. There is so much opportunity available to talented, driven people. Any of us can rise to the top of our chosen profession. But where we go and how far we rise is increasingly up to us. How will you manage your career in technology? This is a […]

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