I work with People

For the past 20 years, I’ve said I work with people instead of people working for me. I’ve been a lead, manager, director, etc. and I’ve worked for my fair share of bosses. I’ve worked for small R&D teams, large contracts, startups, and large Fortune 50 firms. At any size, I believe that putting the emphasis on “with” versus “for” promotes a better philosophy about the way I want to work. Imagine meeting the kid of a colleague and saying the following statements:

“Your dad works for me.“

This implies:

  • I’m his boss
  • I supervise him and tell him what to work on
  • I determine what’s important
  • He needs my permission to work on things.
  • He needs me to determine the problems he can work on.

“I work with your mom.“

  • We are a team
  • We both have work to do to solve ourproblem.
  • She doesn’t need my permission to identify ourproblems.
  • She doesn’t need my permission to determine a solution.

The “with” statements are at the heart of sustainable teams that are based on respect — that’s where I want to work.

Edward Tufte Course – Denver, CO – 7/20/2012

Finally signed up for the Edward Tufte one-day course that’s being presented in two weeks.  I missed out on the chance to attend last year (didn’t know about it until after it was full), but I’m really excited that I’ll be there this year!  See more info at https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/courses.  From the course web page, here’s the topic list:

Topics covered in one-day course

  • fundamental strategies of analytical design
  • evaluating evidence used in presentations
  • statistical data: tables, graphics, and semi-graphics
  • business, scientific, research, and financial presentations
  • complexity and clarity
  • effective presentations: on paper and in person
  • interface design
  • use of PowerPoint, video, overheads, and handouts
  • multi-media, internet, and websites
  • credibility of presentations
  • animation and scientific visualizations

Peter Norvig: I’m used to thinking of the computational unit as the data center

Finally saw reddit’s “interview” of Peter Norvig today.  Maybe the kick I need to learn clojure (as opposed to having it in the hopper) regarding his discussion around the 14:11 minute mark.  Quotes:

  • “I’m used to thinking of the computational unit as the data center“
  • “Then probably this manual keeping track of threads with locks is not going to scale, what we need is something closer to the functional type of approach…”