Socialized Engineering

Earlier today Christina Nguyen and I went to the Dynamic Women in Business conference (WSA sponsored) at HBS.  I was actually… slightly disappointed, and we ended up leaving the conference after lunch (missing one panel session). The point of the conference was to discuss the role of women in business. However, I felt like all of the panels devolved to mostly being a discussion about work-life balance, which was aggravating, and highlighted how unequal things still are*.

The exception for me was the morning keynote with Ann Simonds. Two statements in particular dramatically stood out to me.

Perfect is not lovable.

Her emphasis on the fact that while you’re developing a great career, you won’t be able to be in every industry, go to every event, or make every product perfect is completely true. Anyone who was perfect would be loathed by a very jealous world.

The other point Anne Simonds made that was tremendously valuable was:

There is the life you learn with, and then the life you lead with after that.

I’m not sure if I agree or not, but I think it’s an interesting thing to think about. While I do spend much of my time learning, I do still feel like it’s “real life” and that I’m also producing and doing. Otherwise, when would I decide to start?

They’re quotes to keep thinking about as I move forwards into work and HBS.

* Not to detract from the entry about actual content with ranting… but one panel discussed “how do you keep your career and still keep your personal life?”  Every panelist who discussed keeping career discussed how they had to force their career to be exciting AND in the city their spouse was already in. There was never a case of a spouse moving due to the woman’s career. So apparently equality in work means “sacrifice to make your personal life and job intersect, and also have an awesome job.” This seems unrealistic and like it will make people burn out.  For other exciting gender and work rants, feel free to ask.

Before break I went to dinner in Philadelphia. While I don’t generally blog my meals, this one is something to write about. Due to time lapse between now and then, photos and names only…

1. Duo of Salmon: Salmon Tartare with Sour Apple, Oil Cured Olive, Local Honey, Black Sesame Chip* AND Vodka Cured King Salmon, Hard Boiled Quail Egg, Roasted Beet Creme Fraiche, Lavash Cracker
2. Tuna and Rosemary Aioli on Toasted Baguette with Chilled Shellfish Salad*
3. Fried Kumamoto Oyster, Baby Tomato, Pickled Shallot, Arugula Sprouts, Saffron-Chile Mayonnaise
4. Yellowfin Tuna Ceviche, Grapefruit, Breakfast Radish, Shiso, Grilled Green Tea Noodles, Lemongrass Vinaigrette
5. Seared Diver Scallop with Shiitakes, Cilantro, and Aromatic Fish Consomme
6. Sea Urchin Flan with Crab Cake and Chanterelle Tempura
7. Cast Iron Roasted Local Mushrooms, House Smoked Pork Belly, Poached Egg, Black Truffle Hollandaise
8. Smoked Sea Bass, Celery Root Puree, Autumn Fruit Relish*
9. Maine Lobster Spaghetti, Pumpkin Butter, Parmesan, Porcini Powder
10. Cobia Cioppino, Rock Shrimp, Little Neck Lams, Chorizo, Grilled Foccacia
11. Carrot and Sour Lemon Sorbet, First Press Olive Oil
12. Crispy Duck Wontons, Seared Foie Gras, Pickled Ginger, Micro Cilantro, Pomegranate Mustard
13. Ragu of Coffee Braised Wagyu Beef Short Rib, Anson Mills Polenta, Red Wine Poached Duck Egg, Crispy Shallot Rings
14. Black Tea Glazed Spare Ribs, Toasted Sesame, Pine Nuts, Spicy Ginger Ice Cream*
15. American Aritison Cheese Plate*
16. Creme Brule, Grapefruit, Candied Ginger, Mint AND Callebaut Chocolate Bread Cake, Marcona Almond Puree, Maple Ice Cream, Chocolate-Caramel Drizzle, Salted Pumpkin Seeds*

** Okay, okay, I broke down and starred my favorites.

Our drinks were awesome too! I had a cucumber gimlet and a honey blossom. The latter was too sweet for me, but cucumber gimlets are basically… like drinking a cucumber facial. In the best way possible. It was delicious.

Have nothing in your house that
you do not know to be useful,
or believe to be beautiful.
- William Morris

Just found this in my drafts file. Unsure of the original intent, but lovely quote.

It is nothing to die; it is dreadful not to live. - Les Miserables

A lot changes in a year.

Five skills of innovators:

1. Associating
2. Questioning
3. Observing
4. Experimenting
5. Networking

Schools teach you to imitate. If you don’t imitate what the teacher wants you get a bad grade. Here, in college, it was more sophisticated of course; you were supposed to imitate the teacher in such a way as to convince the teacher you were not imitating, but taking the essence of the instruction and going ahead with it on your own. That got you A’s. Originality on the other hand could get you anything- from A to F. The whole grading system cautioned against it.

Right. Eliminate the whole degree-and-grading system and then you’ll get real education.

From Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

The emphasis of my first day at PDC was Agile Development Methodologies & Tools. Shockingly, there was a huge emphasis on running the complete process of whatever methodology (be it Scrum, Extreme Programming, etc.)

As naive as it may sound, it had never occurred to me to sit down, read and memorize a book on agile, and regurgitate everything it said.  I’ve always viewed that as much more of a Waterfall style of learning, and figured innovative learning and application goes along with innovative techniques.  Maybe some parts of Agile work for you, and maybe others don’t.  On the other, something I did needed pointed out was that Agile technical practices should always be implemented with Agile planning processes. Just using the planning process without bothering to ensure your work is gotten done in an efficient manner won’t actually boost your productivity or developers being personally vested in the process.

Agile tools I like:

• Stand-Up Scrum meetings: Very little makes it more clear that you haven’t done work than having nothing concrete to say during Scrum. Getting problems out fast is remarkably helpful.
• User story focus: This helps make sure that the user stays at the forefront of all of the development work.  It reminds a developer that the user really what is at stake when developing a feature.
• Rapid Iteration: This really is the core principle of Agile, and I can’t argue with it. Being able to quickly put up a prototype to work from and develop from ensure that you will have some product, and also makes everything move faster.  Personally, working on something for a short period of time seems far more compelling than “for the next six months I will…”

Now, I’ll be looking more into the Extreme Programming side…

Oddly Specific is a new blog being launched by the Cheezburger Network (you know, the people who brought you the dreadful cats, and the delightful FailBlog) today.  I’m actually really excited about this particular launch:

1. Who doesn’t love hilarious signs?  There aren’t that many so far, but definitely worth a look.
2. It’s run entirely on the new-ish Microsoft product, Azure.  Azure is a cloud development platform similar to Google AppEngine or Amazon EC2.  It’s looking like it will be running the full gamut between allowing you do anything you want (EC2) or forcing you into a pretty specific set of functionality/development (GAE).  I could see this freedom making it a pretty great success.