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Objectives -- To apply my deep and broad experience in technology and design to transform organizations and the world.
Background -- I discovered computing in my late teens in the era before the ubiquitous PCs and Macs, when personal computing was a hobby for enthusiasts who were willing to build a computer from kits and write programs byte by byte directly in the machine's binary language. When the firstcommertialcommercial PCs arrived I had taken my first salaried position partway through my BS from MIT. I started my job at Victor Business Products the same month the first IBM PCs were shipping where we were introducing a competitive product, the Victor 9000. Thirty years later and my technical chops have only becomedeepened deeper and broader.broadened. I may not be as quick as I was in my twenties, but in thirty years I've either made or witnessed most any mistake you can make and I'm big on avoiding falling into the same hole twice.
In the specific, my background tends strongly towards open systems and open source software,andthough I can find my way around Mac OS and Windows well enough when necessary for integration work. I use Windows for workclients and I use Macs as workstations, but I don't go out of my way to learn anything that invests in the proprietary technology. It does not serve anymy ofor myany client's interestsinterest to be locked into a particular vendor's technology. When it is necessary because of a project constraint whether internal or external, I amhave always been happy to learn whatwhatever is necessary for the success of the projects I work on. My background in Dot Net technology or ClearCase is likean that,example, and my ClearCase background is pretty deep and broad even as it gets less current. The reason is simple, it pays off for both me and my clients. It is the proprietary technologies that have not lasted and the open ones that only broaden and grow with time,time. they They aremay valuablebe invaluable, theireven timeessential to a project's success, but it never pays off to invest in what someone else owns.
Systems Architect -- My interest in design and architecture comes before my immersion in information technology, and I found Christopher Alexander, the architect who inspired the development of pattern languages of programming (PLoP) before that all got started. There is a unity of the work of a designer the trascends disciplinary boundaries, and I have discovered myself as a systems architect in this larger context. The architect will have a broad and deep experience with both the domains of production (building and development) and the domains of us (living and working in structures, using programs), and that is exactly the kind of experience I have. I know the hardware and how it is designed and constructed from the semi-conductors to deploying large computing systems, and I know the software from the bits, bytes and assemply languages all the way through web based server and user interface technologies.
Process Development -- The flip side of Christopher Alexanders work in architecture would be about how we live and work in structures. His concern for designing structures that have emotional qualities, a building that "smiles" taken into the domain of human action becomes the concern for the life well lived. In systems design, we are also concerned for the quality of our productions. Do the systems we have lead to an expansion of freedom and choice or do they lead to oppression and control? Questions of efficiency and effectiveness can only be considered once you have settled the dimensions of value that will be measured. Quality comes before quantity.
The PLoP movement leads directly to a change in development methodology. The emerging agile development technologies, test driven development, user stories and much more are necessary next steps. In my work, there has been a great deal of involvement with process and methodology, both developing processes and operating them. I have seen both the old ways and helped implement the new ways, and I know the strengths of each. We are emerging into an era of rapid development in the area of social processes, and I find myself happily in the middle of it based on the path my career has followed.
Background -- I discovered computing in my late teens in the era before the ubiquitous PCs and Macs, when personal computing was a hobby for enthusiasts who were willing to build a computer from kits and write programs byte by byte directly in the machine's binary language. When the first
In the specific, my background tends strongly towards open systems and open source software,
Systems Architect -- My interest in design and architecture comes before my immersion in information technology, and I found Christopher Alexander, the architect who inspired the development of pattern languages of programming (PLoP) before that all got started. There is a unity of the work of a designer the trascends disciplinary boundaries, and I have discovered myself as a systems architect in this larger context. The architect will have a broad and deep experience with both the domains of production (building and development) and the domains of us (living and working in structures, using programs), and that is exactly the kind of experience I have. I know the hardware and how it is designed and constructed from the semi-conductors to deploying large computing systems, and I know the software from the bits, bytes and assemply languages all the way through web based server and user interface technologies.
Process Development -- The flip side of Christopher Alexanders work in architecture would be about how we live and work in structures. His concern for designing structures that have emotional qualities, a building that "smiles" taken into the domain of human action becomes the concern for the life well lived. In systems design, we are also concerned for the quality of our productions. Do the systems we have lead to an expansion of freedom and choice or do they lead to oppression and control? Questions of efficiency and effectiveness can only be considered once you have settled the dimensions of value that will be measured. Quality comes before quantity.
The PLoP movement leads directly to a change in development methodology. The emerging agile development technologies, test driven development, user stories and much more are necessary next steps. In my work, there has been a great deal of involvement with process and methodology, both developing processes and operating them. I have seen both the old ways and helped implement the new ways, and I know the strengths of each. We are emerging into an era of rapid development in the area of social processes, and I find myself happily in the middle of it based on the path my career has followed.