Get Lost With Me
Some of the things I'm thinking about across work, tech and wellness in the last 2 weeks of 2022.
This week I’m sharing what’s on my mind related to work, technology and wellness, and close out with a personal note to my subscribers with an invitation to get lost with me.
Work Stuff
The DevOps movement blurred the lines between traditional roles. We used to have dedicated roles for development, testing, operations and security. The DevOps shift-left movement made the job of any single person way more complicated because we now have to be an expert at everything. While ultimately a better way of working, it doesn’t mean the transition has been easy. I came across a few articles and had several conversations just this week that makes me think the DevOps effect is heading towards the C-suite. This salesforce blog argues the CFO is increasingly setting strategy like a CEO and leading digital transformation like a CIO. I’ve also heard whispers of the CFO role evolving to a Chief Value Officer. This is a trend I’ll be keeping an eye on. 👀
My latest blog: I share my experience leading a geographically dispersed software development team located across multiple international timezones.
The role of the Chief Architect gets a bad rap in our industry. Many of us have had bad experiences with the know-it-all and yet completely out-of-touch arrogant architects of yesterday. Like every other tech role that has evolved, the role of the architect has come around too. This is a great article about how Chief Architects must go from Architect to Architecting. This quote sums it up nicely: “Today, architecture is more about decisions than structure, more about reacting to constant change than following a master plan, more about delivering frequently than one big drop.”
Cool Tech
I don’t enjoy creating resumes, but if I were looking for a new job in tech I would most definitely use this free resume template created by Gergely Orosz of The Pragmatic Engineer.
Want to follow usage stats of Farcaster, a sufficiently decentralized social network? Bookmark this site: https://farcaster.network/. Usage stats typically come from inside a company but when you are dealing with a protocol, stats are public.
Wellness
End of Year Reflections. At the beginning of the year I wrote down a list of intentions in the form of LESS and MORE and was shocked at how they carried me through the past 12 months, unlike resolutions which tend to be forgotten in weeks. The one with the most impact was “less winning, more learning”. And now that we’re in December, when I would typically reflect on what I’ve been able to accomplish (aka winning), I’m instead reflecting on many other dimensions: what did I learn this year (holy cow so much - web3 tech, VC, starting a company), what books I read, who I helped, what new friends I’ve made.
This is a tough time of year in New York. The sun sets way too early. The earth is brown. The sky is gray. It’s easy to feel down. A mindfulness exercise I practice is to find beauty in what appears ugly. What do you see in these photos I took on my walk this week?
Finding beauty Digital life is amazing but is also an assault on our nervous systems. After tomorrow I’m going to spend the rest of 2022 on a digital detox, will try to go as dark as possible, read books, enjoy nature and be present.
A note to my subscribers:
To my *7* subscribers: thank you for your encouragement and joining me on this experiment.
I started this substack on a complete whim less than 3 weeks ago, evidence of either my bias-for-action or less generously, my impulsiveness. As I wrote at the time, I didn’t totally know why I was doing it, what I wanted to get out of it, or where I hoped it would end up. That’s why I called it an experiment, not a plan. I’m still at a loss for exactly what this substack should be, but I’m channeling my inner scientist and will keep experimenting into next year, inspired also by Thoreau’s words about being lost:
“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves” - Henry David Thoreau
I will continue with the substack for at least 3 months, with a goal to write between 2-4 times each month. I love hearing feedback and meeting new interesting friends from all over the world, so please feel free to get in touch here (or twitter or farcaster ) to say hello and share your story. You have an open invitation to get lost with me, and I hope you continue to hang out for as long as the journey intrigues you and unsubscribe when it no longer does.
Until next time, happy holidays, happy new year and keep putting good into the world. —adrienne🌏❤️