Jack Humphrey

If you are (or were) a highly opinionated engineer, practicing making space for information rather than quickly jumping in and sharing your conclusions is a must for leadership growth. The more senior you become, the harder it is for people to feel comfortable disagreeing with you op…

… “Symmathecist” together most fully embody my identity in our community. I say “open first” because I truly believe that the best software is the software we build together, rather than the software we distribute to others so they can be impressed. I always start with the assumption that every line of code I write is the worst possible version of …

…hould broaden their access to context and give them a voice in the direction their work might take. If you haven’t yet, look to develop new leaders on your team. If you’re tempted to say they’re all “too junior” to be leaders it’s likely that you haven’t developed the coaching skills yet that you will need to manage another manager successfully.

mayb…s a coaching, therapy, or personal introspection exercise! I love doing stuff like this for myself. It’s great to spend time writing down things that you believe about yourself. But the thing is, to make that process really useful, you then need someone who helps you dig into which of the things you believe about yourself are really true, and which are stories you’re telling yourself. You need a person who is in a position to hold you accountable when you stray from those stated values, or who can help you refine them better as you learn more about yourself. And that person is not someone who reports to you. That person may only be yourself, or maybe it’s …

If you want to build trust, you do that by showing up, talking to your team both individually and as a team, and behaving in an ethical, reliable manner. Over, and over, and over again. You don’t get it from writing a doc about how you deserve their trust.

If you are walking a long road, carrying your day pack alongside someone carrying an 80lb pack on their back, someone who has been on this path much longer than you and is clearly exhausted, likely injured, feet covered with blisters, do you tell them you are tired and ask if they can carry your pack too?

Every once in a while, a fellow mom will suggest a playdate, and I freeze my face into a rictus of noncommitment until she suggests we do it at her house. I am terrified of other moms settling into our sofa, only to become stuck there by the various brea…

…, “Is there anything more luxurious than throwing your stuff wherever you please in your own home?” Now I know that there is, in fact, something more luxurious, and that is the fantasy that a bulldozer will one day demolish my dirty home and all my possessions into a pile of detritus that another machine will then sweep neatly away.

I appreciated the diversity of viewpoint and opinion among presenters and attendees. It was great to share ideas with peers who are grappling with a lot of the same challenges. And as a presenter, I couldn’t have asked for a more engaged and appreciative audience! — Jack Humphrey

It took me some time to understand why. Then I figured it out. Being data-driven and expecting initiative means there is always a practical and immediate way to settle a burning argument. If you really believe that feature X is what the business needs, you don’t need to convince an army…