whoami

About a week ago I announced my journeyman tour which has been very well-received, leaving me booked for the first half of it and in talks with several more interested parties. A recurring question (well, fine it's been asked twice thus far) goes along the lines of:

I know who you are, but my coworkers don't. Do you have an introduction?

A curriculum vitae is a dull, dreary affair. Little more than a list of stops on the road from adolescence to here and now. Besides, it's what we have LinkedIn for.

No, the more interesting answer is dependant on, as always, rephrasing the question to make it more precise. It also needs to take context into account, for it's a rare thing that someone truely asks who another being is. In this case, an apt question would most likely be:

How is it to work with you?

I believe in individual leadership over management. I believe in informed, inclusive decision making over arbitrary, commanded authority. I acknowledge and embrace the mesh-like, relationship-based nature of communication within organisations and shake my head in disbelief anytime I see an organisational chart.

I'm curious and conservative. New, shiny techniques and technologies interest me, but not to the point where I shove them into a project at work at whim. Look the other way for a second though, and don't be surprised if you find me and the team in a conference room mob programming. Readability and maintainability are of great concern to me. I guess that's one of many reasons why I'm drawn to languages like Ruby and Elixir.

I'm fiercely loyal to the people I care about, and I easily care about people. I've said more on this topic in my talk at Agila Sverige 2014, Den andra familjen but unfortunately only in Swedish. One of the more endearing remarks I've been given by my better half, Kim, is this:

It's funny. You used to be all about technology. Now you're all about people.

Above all, I hope working with me is fun.