Team leads are different. Your job, should you accept it, is to become what I’ve lovingly dubbed Shit Umbrella. Your goal is to find all of the peripheral stuff involved in getting the product out the door—important stuff, such as making sure the delivery schedule for the new servers makes sense for when you want to ship the product that needs them, or taking customer calls at 11 PM on a Sunday because their account quit working and they want to know why they should keep paying you, or figuring out when doing features the sales and support teams want makes financial sense—and then coming back and presenting a focused direction to all the developers so that they can get the features written without worrying about how they actually ship. You switch from doing the building yourself to enabling others to build stuff on your behalf.
This is exactly what I found out to be my biggest problem; I’m wired to be a “Shit Umbrella”: I’m passionate about enabling other people to do a great job. I’m wired to find better solutions for the team, for being the human interface between mad customers and skilled developers, between clueless CEOs and creative designers. I love driving the vision from the top down, working “in the trenches” but with a focus on making sure the “trenches” are as functional as they can be. I’ll research and setup servers, email systems; I’ll program, sketch and brainstorm with designers, discuss and curate ideas with managers, drive home the vision; I’ll not have a fixed schedule, take calls at 11pm on a Sunday; I’ll bring the water and supplies down to the “trenches” and make sure every “soldier” is focused and perfectly capable to perform his/her task to the best of their abilities. That’s what motivates me. That’s what can consume my days without feeling like “work”.
The problem is that the flip side of Benjamin’s argument is also true: you don’t get to become a “Shit Umbrella” unless you’ve been a coder yourself. Trust me: I’ve tried. I can code and I can reason pretty darn well with other programmers. I understand programming and I love thinking through issues with other programmers, hacking things, find the most creative and effective solutions for the weirdest problems. I love sitting with designers, pitching a few sketches, letting them go crazy on what they do well and come back later and help them hone things down. I’m creative and full of ideas. I love thinking of ways to automate deployments and setups; streamlining a team’s workflow to the right balance between efficiency and engagement. But the reality is I’m no amazing programmer or designer. Reasoning, suggesting, researching and directing are very different skills from doing actual code or actual design. I’m tired of having to be a copy+paste coder or designer because I know what I want done but am not qualified to get it done myself. I can’t work alone either: I need a team around me that I can maximize and build great things. So why can’t I get to that position without first becoming an amazing coder/designer, and why should an amazing coder/designer be put in a place where they are less effective in the overall goal of building great products?
So, why can’t I do what I’m wired for and good at: a “Shit Umbrella”? Is this me just being presumptuous? Am I alone on this?
]]>Anyone who calls themselves a leader is frowned upon, as if leadership was some sort of medal you get when you’ve proven yourself. That’s responsibility. Leadership is a drive that is way bigger than yourself. It compels you, it motivates you. You can’t and shouldn’t stop it.
A few years ago (2008), I underwent SIMA training. I not only got my MAP1 (which you can see the outline section of mine here) but also went through their training for becoming a SIMA coach. I never completed the upper levels of training but absolutely loved what I did. That MAP gave me a very clear picture (and names) as to what motivates me. While the MAP helped me understand who I am, the training gave me the a framework that helps me see other people for who they are, what motivates them and where their strengths and weaknesses may lie.
Getting my MAP was incredibly useful. More so because everyone I work with right now understands it, most have done it too and so we can work better together, knowing each other’s strenghts and weaknesses. But that was only the beggining.
One thing I’ve learned about myself in the last couple of months is that I am what I’ll call a “supporting leader”. What that means is that I’m driven by leadership and speerheading an idea (mine or anyone’s, as long as I believe in it) but I’m only motivated to work in creating a supportive and productive environment for those actually working on the product. That particularity has always put me in a bad spot: I love leading the product and vision but I’ve always been a horrible employee (sorry bosses). That conflict has keept me from ever getting into leadership positions.
I’m not very motivated to work on the product after the idea phase. Instead, I’ll work my butt off to make things as easy and pleasant as possible for those actually building it. I enjoy being part of the development process though. I’m fairly technically proficcient, enought to be able to sit with a developer and/or designer, discussing solutions for our problems. Being involved in the process that deeply allows me to shape the vision with the input of the experts that are doing the actual design/code. I just simply can’t lose the 30,000 foot perspective… That kills me! One of the stages of development where I tend to get deep into the actual code/design is when polishing and/or refactoring come into play. I do also enjoy working directly with the development teams post-launch, bridging support and development, leading the way to a better product.
Here’s a few examples of things I love and am naturally motivated to do:
And here a few examples of things I really don’t like or, at least, procrastinate to no end:
As you can see, I’m in a tough spot. I’m the antithesis of one who would “climb up the ladder”. I love working hard and accomplishing a lot. In all honesty, what I hate is the concept of business ladder. I actually think most managers should be paid less than the experts building the product. I rather manage people smarter than me at they do and who love their jobs, than having to constantly question what they’re doing, while they expect to move up the ladder.
As you can see, I most likely don’t fit most companies’ job offers’ descriptions. However, I’m always ready to listen for new and exciting opportunities.
Having said that, I have a couple of ideas I believe the right people could help turn into successful and profitable products/businesses. If you’re in a position to invest or you’re interested in working together, please let me know and I’d love to sit down with or call you. The ideas range from full-blown web applications to simple iOS apps. The only requirements I have is that you let me drive the idea (I’m fairly open to discussions and suggestions, obviously) and that you value a good friendship, not just a business relationship. The way I see it, I rather make friends in the process of making a product than making mere business partners because I think the final product will reflect that in, if nowhere else, its longevity and sustainability.
So, let’s talk. :)
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Apple might not fit that description anymore but that doesn’t mean something’s wrong or bad! The truth is, the world is a better place because of Apple’s success. Apple’s success means they moved past that ethos and established themselves as the new standard or norm. Again, that’s not a bad thing. Apple’s baton needs to be carried forward by some new, small, probably currently struggling company, the kind that is trying to make some part of this world better, making its dent in the Universe.
As companies grow, they have to move past their small goals and mindset. Staying there can be detrimental for the growth and success of the company. If you truly believe you have better products/ideas, you’ll want everyone to use which means, you simply can’t reject success! At the same time, the problems that a company with 100 or 10,000 customers faces are radically different from the problems of a company with several million of them. Not changing anything would kill you and, potentially, minimize the impact in the market (or Universe). “With great power comes great responsibility” comes to mind here. As you grow and control more information, user data, etc, the more careful you have to be, making “information control” a big issue.
Just think about it: if “Think Different” is to be successful, it is bound to limit itself in time. The success of the different thinking will inevitably lead to leading market position which means you are no longer different: you are the norm.
I’m glad Apple is successful. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: my life is better because of Apple and that’s true for anyone using Apple products. But stop talking about how Apple is different as if that’s big news. I’m glad their different from who they were 10 years ago. I can’t wait for the next “Apple”, a company that will make many lives better by thinking different from what’s established which, in this case, probably means thinking differently from what Apple is currently doing.
]]>I don’t know about you but that helped me realize why I tend to be so adamant about the language I prefer to use on my startup or on any side-projects. It’s about a certain mentality and programmer profile more than it is about the language itself. Honestly, I’m no expert in any language but if there’s one thing I do well is observe, spot patterns and profile people. I rather choose a language that attracts developers of a certain profile. More importantly, I rather choose a language that attracts the right kind of developer.
Code can be rewritten. Yes, it’s work which means it’s money but, I rather spend time rethinking and rewriting code with the right kind of team and mentality than having a bunch of experts that can’t work together and can’t see past their personal choices.
Rewriting code is hard but the only thing harder is rewiring people. Choose your language to achieve that initially. Piss the wrong type of people off first; worry about the best language later. You’d be surprised by how often you may never have to.
]]>My Instapaper feed has probably 5000+ items. There’s no good way to tell because Marco blessed us with the absence of badges and notifications. God bless you, Marco! My Instapaper has turned into a dump of all the cool stuff I either started reading or was “told” to read (aka “someone I respect posted it on Twitter”). The problem is: I don’t have time for that. I don’t have time to read all the books I buy, all the articles I save on Instapaper, watch all the screencasts and listen to all the podcasts. I simply don’t.
One thing I know I’m not alone in is fooling myself into thinking I like–no–love something! That includes playing a game, learning a new skill, reading a certain article/book, etc. I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that 1) I don’t have enough hours in the day and 2) if I really wanted to do those things, I’d drop other things I care less about.
A lot folks I respect or am friends with, fool themselves into thinking they love something they want to love. Wait: who am I kidding? I’m talking about me here… I want to learn this and that, I want to research this and that, I want to read this and that. Do you see a trend there? My true love is in learning something new, is in researching some interesting, is in reading anything! The people I follow and respect are currently defining what I target and I’m missing the point… I may be very far from what I truly love but, sometimes, I’m satisfied because I love the processes: learning, researching, reading, etc, but I might be headed in the overall wrong direction.
I don’t know about you but, I need to focus on doing what I love. In some ways, that might be dropping things I currently think I love and focusing on my priorities. Do you feel the same? Here’s my suggestion:
These are simple questions but don’t let their appearance fool you. Stop fooling youself instead: do more of what you love and less of what you’ve set yourself up to.
Back to the Instapaper backlog and my OCD: instead of trying to read every article there, I shouldn’t be afraid to skim and delete if it doesn’t catch my interest. This is true for everything else… Quality is important in everything you do, but don’t waste your time putting “lipstick on a pig” and truly invest (not spend) your time in bettering yourself as a person and, should you be fortunate, make your dent in the world.
Time doesn’t multiply itself. If you need more time but still care about quality, simply do less but do it better.
]]>While researching for a 4GB server, I went to my personal preference: Media Temple. I’ve been incredibly happy with them since I first moved there in 2008. At that time, I got a (gs) which had some performance issues. I decided to upgrade to their (dv) service and they were incredibly helpful and even offered me a discount because of the reason I was moving was related to some performance on their other product. Since then, I’ve moved over to a (ve) and I couldn’t be happier. They’re definitely an A-Team when it comes to hosting. But a 4GB (ve) with them would set us back $250/month which, for a group of 6-10 friends, with no contracts and relying solely on donations is a bit out of reach. I needed something cheaper.
DigitalOne is a pretty tempting dedicated host. Very limited choices, but what they do have is VERY competitively priced. @Pinboard’s there.
— Marco Arment (@marcoarment) March 22, 2011
During my research, the FBI seized a few of Instapapers servers at DigitalOne. During that time, Marco tweeted how the only reason he had rented those non-critical servers were their extremely low RAM/cost ratio.
Since our gaming community was everything but crucial, I thought “what the heck” and got ourselves a 4GB VPS for $59/month and, for the past 7 months, I’ve had no major complaints. The server is hosted on the East Coast and, while most of us are from Central Iowa (Ames), we get decent enough latency (sub-30ms) while playing Counter-Strike: Source (where latency is more critical than in Minecraft). Good enough, I guess.
Fast forward to two days ago and I get an email from DigitalOne saying my VPS had been restarted because they “detected instability of several host servers”. I thought nothing of it and proceeded with my day job as I were. Late last night, I tried to SSH in to make some updates to the Minecraft server and got nothing but timeouts. Tried pinging: nothing. Re-checked DigitalOne’s control panel, saw they have 2 IP addresses listed in different places on my profile and tried pinging both: nothing. I put in an emergency support request at 1:17am (my time, 8:17am their time–Switzerland) and wait. Around 3am I give up and go to bed. When I wake up, I noticed I had a reply sent at about 3:15am (2h after my emergency request) asking me for my root password. Wait: WHAT? Why the HECK would I give you my root password which I may or may not use in other servers, which I don’t even log into directly to?? And why would you ask for that over a ticket system that sends email notifications, meaning my root password would travel in plain text over the wire so that you can check what’s up with my server that YOU rebooted without previous warning or advance notifications so that YOU can check for the OS networking stack (that’s what they told me in a reply to my awestruck respose)?
After I asked them those questions exactly, I get a reply (6 hours later) saying they had managed to reset my password by ____ (the support agent linked to what it looked like an admin FAQ, that I couldn’t see because it was restricted to admins). Apparently the issue was with the VMware Tools that a OS update I had run had uninstalled. Now, I’ve done OS upgrades in other VPS and never had such issue which makes me wonder what the heck are they running there… :S
PS: The sudden restart of the server caused corruption on some Minecraft map files. I restored from backup but that’s unnaceptable.
This is simply unnaceptable for a company that we pay money to. I don’t care about the price/cost/etc. This is simply a matter of professionalism and service. I don’t want a fancy control panel. I don’t want “ultra-fast high-end SSD disk access”. I don’t even want 24-hour phone support. I’m okay with paying less and getting less. That’s why I chose DigitalOne. But what sets amaterus, pseudo-scamming you (by promising “professional services” when they don’t know how to be professional) and an A-Team apart is the quality of their service. It’s the feeling that, no matter how little you pay, you’re treated as a valuable customer. Doesn’t matter if you’re a “big account” or a user on a free plan. Doesn’t matter if you’re a celebrity or a John Doe. The mark of an A-Team is care, professionalism and attention to detail. Things will go wrong and break, inevitably, but your customers will stick with you through thick-and-thin if you care for them and are honest about your shortcomings. Media Temple’s (gs) is not the greatest hosting service in the world. We know it and they know it. But whenever I had issues with it, I was taken care of regardless of how much I was paying them for it. This is also true for other services and companies I pay money to.
If you’re in the business of getting paid for a service you provice (and you should!), never treat customers differently based on their plan price. At the end of the day, 10,000 customers paying you $10 is better than 10 customers paying you $1,000… That means hiring A-Team employees and creating the right environment where they can help keep your service in check.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to find an alternative to DigitalOne that we can afford. But I’ll be looking… Do you know of any good/affordable alternatives? Get in touch by pinging me on Twitter or Hacker News.
]]>So, is it me or was iOS the first one to actually manage b), c) and d)? Previously, it seems, we (the user) were the ones assumed to be in charge of managing those. I understand I’m taking the above quite literally but I can’t avoid wondering if Apple isn’t really on the right track to creating the next-gen operating system and not just another operating system. If anything, Microsoft’s tentative approach to Windows 8 and Metro is a clear evidence of this…
]]>Fancy designs are expensive and 90% of the time mean absolutely nothing to the folks you hand your cards to. How does having your business card on display in an inspiration website add anything to the actual value of your company and/or brand? I can think of a few exceptions, like design/marketing companies, but the truth is those brands are using that medium less and less.
Before (over)budgeting identity design simply because it’s “cool” and “our competitors did it”, consider how not doing something just because might actually be the disruptive choice that can set your company/brand apart.
]]>Just an FYI: this is not finished and some pretty substantial changes are currently underway. For now, this will serve its purpose and you can find me on Twitter.
Thank you for your patience! :)
PS: Octopress rocks!! :D
]]>I present to you: Google Apps Custom (GAC). The idea is to replace the free version of Google Apps but to work substantially different. Instead of creating new accounts, this package would collect existing Google Accounts. It would allow for domain aliases and everything, but all those aliases would fall into a user’s personal Google account. Here’s an example:
Notes: (1) All emails/accounts count to one’s personal storage limit. If a user needs more storage, they can upgrade their Gmail account. (2) Aliases should be domain-specific unless otherwise noted. That means that, for example, I can add my dad as dad@meatyjuicy.com but not necessarily dad@milkybacon.net, but I can set *dnsinfo@**.
This would be a win-win for Google. It has the potential to increase the number of Gmail paid accounts plus it avoids the incredible myriad of Google Apps accounts just to add custom domains. It would also be perfect for communities and encourage new users to sign up for their own, personal Google account so they can be added to the community.
One other interesting feature that could be added would be “shared aliases”. These would be aliases@domain.com that would be received by multiple users and, using some technology that already exists (in Docs and Wave), real-time interaction: if user A is shared email, user B would be notified of that, including real-time composing of new emails and replies from that shared aliases (activated as soon as that alias is selected from the “From” dropdown). These shared emails could have some sort of visual indicator so as to distinguish them in your Inbox. The truth is this technology is out there and we’ve all used it in multiple circumstances. I’m just coming up with ideas on how to use it… :)
Thoughts? Well, first of all, I’d like to get this post to someone at Google. I’d like to hear their thoughts on it, even if they can’t commit to anything. I’m pretty confident with the ideas I’ve presented here. If you want to get in touch with me, please do so on Twitter. Thank you.
]]>