Hello reader, and welcome! Consider the following a “cheat sheet” for working with me, outlining my style and philosophy.
Introduction
I’m Alan, a staff+ product engineer, manager and executive, with experience across the stack and the org. Over the last 20+ years, I’ve repeatedly found myself at early-stage startups, joining as an IC and eventually assuming a leadership role as the needs of the business change.
I’m bad at staying in my lane, but I’m good at finding the right lane to be in. The hardest, most glaring problems attract my attention; I find joy in problem solving. I’ve revamped performance review processes, mentored early-career SEs and PMs, built disciplines and teams, fixed critical security flaws, added delight to user experiences, and managed projects, roadmaps and budgets. I’m a generalist, and a wolf.
I love Ruby, Elixir, and TypeScript. I have yet to find the perfect prioritization tool, but I drive Shortcut+Sheets gets pretty close.
Values
💪🏼 Grit
We aren’t done until the job is done. Family & friends have learned that if they call me for help, they had better be prepared to stay on the phone all day; I won’t start unless we’re going to finish.
🫱🏼🫲🏽 Generosity
Time and knowledge aren’t meant to be hoarded; give both with purpose and intent.
😂 Joy
Find problems, ways or types of work that delight to energize yourself. Life is tough and often overwhelming in big chunks. Find satisfaction and delight in small chunks to give you energy to tackle the icky stuff.
Working Style
I’m a problem solver; it’s what drives me. I get a rush out of being productive and get anxious if I feel behind, so I burn hard sometimes. I often work off-hours, and I’m ok doing so; I don’t expect you to do the same. Luckily, I have my family to keep me balanced. I am most comfortable when I’m a little stressed out.
My calendar is open and, for the most part, accurate. If there’s free space, you’re free to take it. All my invites allow edits by attendees. If you need to move a 1-1, move it — no need to ask, but I may move it again.
I will rarely move 1-1s, and I’ll never cancel them, unless you ask me to.
Meeting One-on-One
Any meeting is only as effective as its agenda. I keep a shared, running notes doc for 1-1’s that aim to accomplish more than #donut-style conversation. It provides an async channel to park low-urgency topics, and keeps us on-topic while we meet. It’s private, and will never be shared with anyone besides the two of us. If you have something you want to chat about, put it in an upcoming agenda or in the parking lot. If the parking lot gets full, we can schedule an extra to clear it out.
We can also agree to throw out the agenda, and spend some social time together! Planned fun is awkward, at first, but building trust is crucial, especially on remote teams; it’s hard to earn and easy to spend.
1-1 Doc Template
- Goals
- Action Items
- Parking Lot
- Agendas (ordered by date desc)
Need Something?
👎🏼 Tired: “Hey, you free?”
👍🏼 Wired: “Hey! I grabbed sc-2245, but I have questions… Are you free at 3pm ET to discuss?”
Need something from me? Ask! For best results, avoid opening with “hey” or “hi, are you busy?” I’m likely to respond, “yup!” or wait to respond until you provide more context so I can properly prioritize.
Where possible, also include any time constraints. The amount of lead time often dictates whether or not I can commit. Conversely, if you commit to do something, include roughly when you expect it’ll be done. That allows me to know when it’s OK to follow-up without being overly-micro.
Management Principles
- Intentional Practice — Like any craft, management deserves diligence. I often seek feedback, read, practice, and reflect on the art and science of managing humans.
- Agreements > Expectations — I prefer to establish agreements that reflect mutual commitments rather than one-sided expectations. If we both agree on the motivation, then alignment should be a natural bi-product.
- Radical Candor — It’s not just a book with a catchy title. I believe in open and honest communication, and I welcome feedback from you on how I can improve as a manager.
- Aligned Autonomy — I believe in giving you enough context to understand where we’re headed and give you the space to own your path to get there.
- Sustainability — I encourage you to take breaks and prioritize your well-being, and I will respect your work-life balance and boundaries.
General Principles
- Document the why before the what.
- Prefer practical correctness over technical completeness.
- Ask good questions, and one more than you think you need.
- Prefer two-sided commitments over one-sided expectations; foster “So Say We All” moments.
- Quality is a personal responsibility first, shared responsibility second.
- Approach conflict with humility.
- Criticism is more valuable than praise; make room for it and embrace it.
- Respect the process, but not too much.
The Handle
I need a handle, man. I don’t have an identity until I have a handle.
~ Joey Pardella
“nonrational” is an anagram of “i alan norton” which I thought was pret-ty sweet when I was in my early 20’s. Beyond that, nonrational decision making is a process that involves intuition, creativity, and subjectivity, rather than logic and linearity. It’s a necessary component of great software design. Software is mostly words, naming is hard, and a good abstraction often feels right well before you can derive a logical justification.
The header logo (👨🏻💻 ∉ ℚ) is part joke, part puzzle. It reads “[technologist] [is not a member of] [the set of rational numbers]” which, in some squinty, poetic-license, Lone Star bottle cap kinda way, translates to “nonrational.”