Year: 2023

Yearly Focus

Genghis Khan – Exemplar Review

This year I picked Genghis Khan as my exemplar since the theme I was studying was strategy and he is widely noted as one of the best military strategists. I write these reviews following a review template to help me get the most out of the process of having an exemplar. Below is my entry for Genghis Khan. What did Genghis Khan achieve? He unified a large number of nomadic people on the Mongolian steppe and led the expansion of that kingdom until it became the largest contiguous land empire in history. Why did he care about that? I haven’t gotten any clarity into that during my study this year. It seems revenge and ambition played a role, but I also get the feeling that continual growth was just something that kept him busy and his people focused on a task. Perhaps that is all there is to it – he

Yearly Focus

2023 Focus: Three Quarter Year Update

Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. In 2023 I set out to learn about Strategy. You can read more about my intent here. 2023 Theme: Strategy In terms of reading, here is my progress Good Strategy Bad Strategy HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategy – IN PROGRESS Blue Ocean Strategy – IN PROGRESS The Crux Playing to Win Understanding Michael Porter The Art of Strategy Competitive Strategy Your Next Five Moves Measure What Matters Your Strategy Needs a Strategy The biggest bluff

Career in Tech

Reflecting On My First Year At Databricks

I recently finished my first year at Databricks, so I wanted to take a chance to reflect on the year; summarize what I’ve learned, see if the reasons I joined have proven valid, and check in on how I’m progressing on the goals I set for myself. If you haven’t yet read the blog post on why I decided to join Databricks, you might benefit by referencing that. How Has My First Year At Databricks Been? I’m generally very happy here and think I made a good decision to join. I am truly living up to my LinkedIn tagline of “having fun doing hard things with great people”. I’ve had a lot of fun, but it has also been very challenging, in the way I enjoy – the way that stretches me to be better. In some ways I got really lucky joining when I did, much like I got

Yearly Focus

2023 Focus: Half Year Update

Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. More details about the process are in this blog post and you can review the results from past years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). 2023 Theme: Strategy I’m continuing to enjoy this subject. Strategy is essentially identification of levers and applying focused pressure on them – its a bit puzzle, and I love puzzles. In terms of reading, here is my progress Good Strategy Bad Strategy HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategy – IN PROGRESS Blue Ocean

Physical Challenges, Yearly Focus

Race and Adventure Report: Seventy 48 – 2023

On June 2nd and 3rd, 2023 I completed the Seventy48 paddle race in just over 40 hours. Here is the race report Goals Results Enjoy being outside – ACCOMPLISHED Do something really hard – ACCOMPLISHED Do something new and learn some new skills – ACCOMPLISHED Finish the course (even if after the allowed time) – ACCOMPLISHED Officially finish (under the official 48 hour cutoff) – ACCOMPLISHED Finish in under 24 hours – Not Accomplished Finish in under 20 hours – Not Accomplished Strategy Start slow, keep moving, and dig deep in the end. – ACCOMPLISHED Tactics Eat 200 calories per hour – ACCOMPLISHED Refill water every 2 hours – ACCOMPLISHED Don’t exceed 140bpm – Not Accomplished Only stop on land three times – Not Accomplished Limit rest stops to 30 minutes – Not Accomplished Successes What am I proud of from race day? Found a way to finish Failures What areas could I

Parenting

How I Do Daddy Dates

Most of the posts on my blog are about my yearly goals (120 posts), physical challenges I take on (20 posts), my career (5-6) or topics I’m learning about at the time (minimalism, measurement, productivity, etc.). Very little to date has been about parenting (I count three posts; 1, 2 and 3). This is somewhat by intention – I was hesitant to write about a topic I didn’t know much about and where I wasn’t objectively good. Now, that I have an aggregated 30 years of parenting under my belt (thats how it works, right?), I perhaps have something to share. Every month I have part of a day reserved to take one of my children out on a date. This is one-on-one time I spend with them doing something that they want to do. Quality time. I have four children, so each child gets three dates a year and

Random Thoughts

Random Things I’m Thinking About in April 2023

Written on a flight back from visiting the Netherlands How the Dutch became the leading power in the world and how they lost that status Reclaiming land from the ocean – the risk and reward with global warming and a lack of unclaimed land to occupy How we shape our children through encouraging traditions that instill values or norms in them Why SUPing long distances doesn’t make much sense (it is slower, harder and has more risk of falling in) but I still enjoy it more anyways Birds in different parts of the world – why some species thrive everywhere while other times a different species fills a similar role locally Are rabbits the most efficient way to turn sunshine into protein? They are definitely the cutest Appreciating difference in culture for the Darwinistic strength it gives humanity as a collective Difficulty and danger – how the mix of them

Yearly Focus

2023 Focus: Quarter Year Update

Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. More details about the process are in this blog post and you can review the results from past years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). 2023 Theme: Strategy I’m having so much fun reading about this topic. I love strategy and reading more formally about it has only served to confirm that. My brain just loves chewing on things and thinking about strategy feels satisfying in the same way it feels good to crunch into a big sandwich.

Product Reviews

My Ten Year Gear: 2022 Edition

The goal of this blog post is to celebrate possessions I’ve had in my service for at least ten years. I believe that reflecting on these items will help me learn a few things about reducing waste, being efficient with my money and designing good products. These are all valuable to me, thus this blog post. For something to last ten years in my service in needs to have a few important attributes. It needs to: be useful or beautiful – otherwise I would have gotten to a point where I didn’t need it and donated, sold or tossed it be durable and/or repairable – otherwise it would likely be broken and discarded (unless I didn’t use it, in which case, see above) I must have not outgrown it – the item would likely be passed on if I changed my preferences, body size, skill level, or hobbies away from

Yearly Focus

2023 Focus: Strategy

Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. More details about the process are in this blog post and you can review the results from past years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). 2023 Theme: Strategy This is the sixth and final year of my current sabbath cycle, a six year period where I am focused on preparing for my calling. As I entered this six year stretch I had the belief that there are four generic skills that are highly valuable to do anything well;