Don’t Make it All About Your Cheese!

About a year ago, I took on a new responsibility as a Career Development Manager at Atomic Object. In addition to my normal consultant duties, I now get to work with a small group of people to help them plan out their professional development. I frequently get to have conversations with people about what their […]

Advice for Superheroes and Software Consultants

Early in my career, I prided myself on my technical skill. I was pretty fast at writing pretty good code. I conceived more efficient algorithms more quickly than many of my peers. I took creative approaches to expressing ideas in code that were at least interesting, if (with the benefit of hindsight) not necessarily as […]

From Software Design to Project/Product Management: An Honest Reflection

I’m a software designer, but over the past year, I’ve slowly started taking on project management responsibilities through a role we call the Delivery Lead. It’s been a big challenge, but also a lot of fun.

Sometimes It’s Okay to Not Share the Marker – Three Times to Take the Lead in a Working Meeting

Don’t get me wrong–I am all about collaboration. Interesting ideas, different perspectives—it’s all great. But sometimes in a working meeting, you have to take control of the whiteboard marker and not let anyone else touch it.

Teams and the Art of True Belonging

Though working in a group can be invigorating and a lot of fun, it is frequently challenging. We all have different perspectives and personalities, and we continually need to figure out how to how ideate, integrate, and converge on a common direction in order to be effective.

2 Design Techniques that Can Make You a Better Influencer

In the decade I spent as a designer, the most important skills I learned weren’t about user interfaces or color theory. They were about working with people—juggling different ideas, priorities, and personalities. Finding a way forward that everyone can agree on. Here are two people-wrangling techniques I still use nearly every day, in my career […]

Why I’m Glad I Switched from QWERTY to Colemak

I recently made the switch from a QWERTY keyboard to Colemak, and I wanted to share my experience so far.

You – Yes, You – Are a Consultant. Are You Making the Most of It?

We include the term “consultant” in almost all of our job titles at Atomic. We’re a software design and development consultancy, and we like to carry that part of our company identity through to individual job titles. But don’t think that just because you don’t work at a consultancy, you’re not a consultant. Your job […]

Reviving the Handwritten Thank-You Note: Tips, Tools, and a 4-Sentence Template

I’m pretty sure you already think handwriting thank-you notes is a good move. So why don’t you more often? Does it seem old-fashioned? Too much work? Overly time-consuming? Not sure what to say? Do you associate it with obligatory notes to Aunt Martha, thanking her for your itchy birthday socks?

Creating a Fast, Easy Daily Log with Bear & aText

I am a big note taker, mostly because I tend to be forgetful. No matter how significant or recent a discussion may be, I often forget the details of what was said or decided–unless I take effective notes.

Atomic Spin

Atomic Object’s blog on everything we find fascinating.

The Software Life