I find that there are many ways to learn. I hope to provide some insight on the ways that I learn, share knowledge, and be a great community citizen to the web.
CONSISTENT
Something must be wrong with my RSS feed program. At least that is what I thought. It turns out that a blog that posts every weekday consistently was taking a vacation. He posted a note on the home page probably for people like me. Consistency creates a feeling of stability. We rely on the timing, efficacy, and strong associations of things that are consistent: The train schedule The calendar Maybe a paycheck Even an election We have an opportunity to build consistent patterns in our lives. Here are some thoughts around how some of my life repeatable patterns benefit others (results may vary):
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
My life is “under construction”. Hopefully, I am building on a foundation. Even that foundation should be built on the sediment layers of our past experiences. Each decade, year, or week might need a touchup or remodel. Hopefully, it doesn’t require a full teardown. We shape who we are by the way we construct each moment. At 8 was your vision to be an astronaut, a ballerina, the worlds greatest hip-hop artist? How about your 20 year old self or even the young age of 50? When you look back, do you see how the architecture has shifted or modified from the original?
POSITIVE
99% of my days are usually positive. However, I don’t consider myself a positive person. Sometimes I even consider myself a curmudgeon on the world’s stage. My mindset is fixated on the problem space so that they can be solved. Ok maybe only 95% of my day is positive. I like Positive over Negative When I am in an postive environment, time flies. I remember the good things, the memorable moments, and the joyous laughter longer than the snarky comment, frown, or funky attitude. People with positive attitudes are infectious, even the colors that they wear bring out joy.
THIRST QUENCHERS - 2025-04-21
Creative Hacks: Scott Berkun Author: Scott Berkun - Creative Mornings Seattle A Video that talks about Combinations, Constraints, Environments, and more that we can rethink to be more creative. This talk was from over 10 years ago, but is still relative today. I have known and followed Scott throughout many years. I am always a fan of his insights and was surprised that I didn’t see this before from Creative Mornings.
PRIORITY
We can’t get away from prioritization. My time to write this post is based upon my time prioritization, for instance. We prioritize based upon: Data - Prioritizing next steps based upon the data that we analyze Emotions - How we feel determines priority. Directed - This is out of our control. Companies that we work for for instance, establish priority that their employees work on. When we think about priority, let’s remember the following:
GOOD
Today is recognized around the world as Good Friday! Sometimes we may be confused by why something would be considered good. Is it good for us? Is it good for others? Even though I don’t see fruit yet, is the work good? When in Japan a few weeks ago, there was a lot of excitement for the cherry blossom. It has such beauty. And then it falls off the tree. Later it produces an amazing fruit. That is goodness at many different levels.
SIMPLE THINGS
In my mind, simplicity can be a very hard thing to achieve. Writing this post is a great example. I am thinking about all of the “pre-work or pre-thought” that I must do for the post to be successful. My problem is I didn’t determine success or have a grandiose idea of what that would look like. Seth Godin has been blogging for years. He has built knowledge and wisdom through short posts.
THIRST QUENCHERS - 2025-04-13
Coaching Author: J.D. Meier I reached out to J.D. one day, when I worked at Microsoft. I had read a blog post by someone else about looking for a coach. Fortunately, good advice prepared me well for an informational. 30 minutes turned into an hour plus of gaining wisdom. If you don’t have a coach or mentor, learn about coaching here. There are like 3 or 4 more posts also, where J.D. freely shares knowledge. Definitely stuff to learn from a proven strategic leader.
THIRST QUENCHERS - 2025-04-06
API Governance: What does that mean Author: Kin Lane I really liked this as a small thought-provoking exercise. As I get older, I am asking for more definitions in everyday conversations. The key takeaway for me on this one was leadership only willing to govern one area, but not the whole. Sounds a lot like most software engineering where there are segregated roles. Codegen workflows Author: Harper Reed Martin Fowler boosted this on Mastodon so I took a peek. I am glad I did. I am really starting to see how using LLMs for design becomes a game changer.
THIRST QUENCHERS - 2025-03-30
AI Coding Impacts Author: Martin Fowler This article has put into words what has been bothering me. Impacts of the code generated for maintainability. Like anything else, not everything is should just be taken at face value. It has been easier to tell when the code being written is generated. If you can’t explain it, that may be a problem. Christian Conversations with Unemployment Situations Author: Joe Carter I found this pretty helpful in that too often we have the superficial statements to people going through hardships. In today’s world, we need to be open to deeper exploration and support to those who are facing employment challenges. I also especially liked how we need to change messages when teaching about success in God’s Kingdom.