Being a Technologist at Thirty Madison

Technology encompasses a broad definition within its current context of discussion and it can refer to a number of distinct deliverables in a wide array of different fields. For this article, I will be defining the Technologist as a person who uses techniques, tools, and processes to work with both their mind and their hand — a distinct characteristic of the Technologist.

Here at Thirty Madison, in order to build best-in-class experiences for our customers, we must rely on a broad set of people who all bring different viewpoints and perspectives to the table. The role of the Technologist then is to synthesize these many ideas into their own area of expertise while also zooming out to understand how their own field plays a crucial part in the delivery of a great product. Being patient first, we have the responsibility of implementing creative solutions to some of the harder problems in our society — most notably, equitable access to world-class chronic care.

While everyone is an important contributor within their own field — whether that be Engineering, Product, Data, or Design — no job is beneath anyone. Core to the day-to-day of the technologist here at Thirty Madison is the notion that we all must come together to create the best outcome for both our patients and the business. In order to help define the role of the technologist, I’ve put together a small list of anecdotal axioms that I’ve distilled from my experience working with the great folks here. In no particular order of importance, they are…

Technologists understand that technology serves a purpose greater than the technology itself

Let’s start here, with the foundation. It can be very tempting to adopt new technology in your field based on hype, popularity, newness, etc. Oftentimes, we tend to jump from one shiny object to the next in order to stay relevant. Great Technologists understand this, too. Although they are on the pulse of what is modern and cutting edge in their own particular field, they also preserve this index of knowledge to solve real problems that create real value to users. This is the difference. If all we did was accrue a lexicon of Cool New Tech™ just to have the jargon, then we’ve done ourselves a disservice. Technologists are able to marry the problems that they’re solving with the appropriate tool of choice. Will this tool scale with our platform? Does it create efficiency? Is the community support for this tool strong or weak? What happens if we need to switch out tools two years down the road? These questions help create dialog around the tools that we choose and filter our conversations to be both around the technology of choice and how this technology adds value to our users.

Technologists can walk the line between order and chaos

A standard must be kept in order to produce high-quality work. However, sometimes, the time needed to uphold that standard in order to solve a problem exceeds the deadline to deliver. This then creates an interesting challenge — how do we deliver on our commitments while not degrading the quality of our systems? The Technologist knows that it’s a trade-off. The solution is rarely ever one extreme or the other. Extreme stances can lead to broken trust and delayed results. The answer is oftentimes found in the middle ground between order and chaos. For example, what’s the least amount of effort we can do to deliver value? How will we know our solution is working or not? Can we unwind our decision easily? If not easily, then what’s the risk we’re taking on? These probing questions often help simplify the problem space and reveal simpler solutions than we first imagined (looking at you Occam’s Razor).

Technologists know that all systems steadily accrue debt

Similar to the above, the Technologist understands that the best-designed systems will eventually accrue debt. The question then becomes not if we will take on debt, but rather, how much debt are we willing to take on. In other words, what’s the interest we have to pay back over time? Technical purity can create astounding designs and systems, but it needs to be tempered by attainable milestones, realistic goals, and timely delivery. Thus, the role of the Technologist is to help create the right sequence of work. This sequence of work often times will include debt that we willingly take on. All of this, then, must be driven by the ultimate prize of delivering value to the customer in a timely fashion. Paying down debt can be amortized, but if you lose the trust of your customers through a failed product delivery, that is much harder to buyback. Your code may be good enough to put on display in a museum, but if it’s not adding value to real people and solving real problems, then it’s hard to justify its need.

Technologists realize that ownership will beat out raw talent

I know I said these were in no particular order, but if I had to choose, this would be at the top. As a manager of an engineering team, I find the ability to own your work to be quite often the defining factor between good and great. Technologists understand their responsibility to help shape products millions of people will use. Our customers are going to be a diverse set of people, and solving problems for a diverse set of people requires intentionality, due diligence, humility, expertise, and most importantly — ownership. In fact, modeling ownership mentality is a sure-fire way to become a great Technologist. This mode of thinking requires a person to zoom in to the details and zoom out to higher elevations. This ebb and flow create a perspective that allows a person to understand how what they’re building creates value for the end-user. The opposite of this is the person with blinders on, simply consuming tasks and producing deliverables. Now, I will caveat this by saying great teams need people to execute and there is nothing wrong with being seated in that role. But, the next step to understanding the value of your work, and therefore adding more value to the product, is owning that work. Ownership mentality combined with talent is a rarity, and should be rewarded as such.

Thirty Madison is building towards our mission of providing access and care for all who live with a chronic health condition. Technologists at Thirty Madison believe in becoming better every day by not only growing in their tactical skills but also in their ability to enact change through patient-first empathy and cross-team collaboration. If you find yourself excited by the environment outlined in this article, we’re hiring for plenty of open positions within our Technology organization. Check them out here!