👋 Hi, I'm Steve. This README explains a bit about me, the standards I hold myself to and how to work best with me. Hopefully, reading this document will save you some time learning my quirks the old-fashioned way. If you find me not living up to my own standards, please let me know, so I can make it right.

• I was born in NYC and raised in South Florida
• I'm a big audiobook reader
• I dropped out of Penn after 3 semesters
• I'm Bret Victor and Alan Kay fanboy
• I'm passionate about programming and education
• I'm a Crystal Palace supporter

These are some of the standards I hold myself to, and traits I value in others.

1. Integrity – honesty, accountability, doing the right thing. Doing what you'll say you'll do. Not lying. Not taking advantage of people. Being responsible. Integrity is the cornerstone of trust, and trust lets us all go further, faster.

2. Kindness – treating people with respect, patience, good-will. Wanting the best for others. Taking pleasure in helping people. Taking others' perspectives and emotion into account, and treating them with care and empathy. Working with people instead of manipulating them.

3. Resourcefulness – leveraging all resources and clever thinking to identify and solve problems. Not getting stuck, spiraling, or getting discouraged. Asking for help when you need it – other people are some of the best resources! – but not bothering people until you've done your homework first.

I love async communication.

I regularly check:

• email
• text
• facebook messenger
• whatsapp
• twitter DMs
• bluesky
• linkedin

I try to at least acknowledge receipt of all non-spam messages within a day or two. Always feel free to bump a message to urge me to reply more quickly.

I'm a big fan of sending and receiving audio or video messages when it makes sense more than text. For example, for giving feedback on an essay or a website, demoing a bug, or teaching how to do something.

When there's a tense, fraught, complex, or important conversation happening on DMs, I try to quickly bounce to synchronous conversation, like phone call. A lot can be lost in textual communication that can be easily cleared up with the tone of a human voice.

I love giving feedback, though I've found my feedback isn't always well received. My favorite way to give feedback is in a stream-of-conscious style, wherein I document all my reactions to the work. It's exactly how I review my own work. There's minimal sugar coating. I may highlight parts and simply say "wordy" or "nonsense" or "delete" or "repetitive" or "word choice" or "did an AI write this?".

It's very important to understand that I want you to interpret these as reactions. I am not claiming to know what's right. I am not demanding you make any change. I am trying to give you the gift of knowing what goes inside the head of one person when they read your work. It's a very vulnerable thing for me to do – giving you an unfiltered view into my head – and I find that I'm best at it when I don't worry about what you'll think about what I think.

So when reading my feedback, take with with a grain of salt. I am just one person. I may not be your intended audience. I can be wrong. Maybe I misread something. My reactions are intended for you to read, reflect on, and then do what you want. They are a single data point. They do not need any reply. They do not require any action on your part. If you think my reaction is irrelevant, ignore it! Let my reactions wash over you, and then do what you think is best.

I love to receive feedback, and really appreciate it when it's given in any form. I see it as my responsibility to make it as easy and painless for you to give me feedback.

I absolutely love friction logs. They're one of the best gifts you can give me. Here's a great guide on how to write one, but don't feel like yours has to be so structured. If easier, just turn on your camera, screen recorder and mic, and talk me through your feedback.

I have a couple of rough edges that I am aware of. While I'm working on them and hope you don't have to experience them, I find it helpful for folks to know what they are just in case.

If I'm making you feel bad, it's likely because I'm making you feel flustered or dumb. I hope I never do this to you. If I do, know that I am not doing it on purpose, and am sorry about it. Likely it means that I'm feeling stupid or overwhelmed, and am trying to protect myself by projecting the stupid onto you. If you're brave and self-aware enough to say, "You're making me feel stupid", those are magic words to fix the situation. It will help me adjust my own attitude, de-escalate, and apologize.

I may also dismiss something you work on by making it seem dumb.

This one is a bit random, but I want everyone I work with to use the following tools, or equivalents. Otherwise, it's just annoying to watch you use your computer 😝. They are quick to install. Then you just have to pick keyboard shortcuts and learn them. It's a very worthwhile investment. You won't know how you lived without them.

1. Clipboard manager - if you think cmd+c is useful, wait till you can cmd+c multiple things

2. Window manager - for looking at things side-by-side.

3. Screen Recording - for async communication. You can skip a lot of meetings with a good screen recording.

I want to build a work culture where we celebrate people for:

1. Long tenures. Folks should feel like there's no artificial ceiling to learning, growing, and compensation on my team.
2. Parting on good terms. There's not always room for everyone's dreams at every company, and we want to celebrate our people chasing their dreams, wherever that takes them.

If you're thinking of quitting on me, I'd first ask that you let me know that you're unhappy or thinking of a move as early as possible so that I can do all that I possibly can to fix things to make you happy to stay. Even if it seems impossible, please let me know, because you might be wrong. If it doesn't seem like I understand the urgency of your request, let me know that too.

Typically, when an employee wants to leave an employer, they keep that knowledge secret until they are ready to hand-in their two-weeks notice. This is very sensible, considering that the employer may decide after hearing this to immediately fire the employee or otherwise treat the employee badly.

I find this pattern sub-optimal and would like to propose an alternative to anyone I manage: trust me like your mentor that has your best interests at heart. If you are unhappy working with me or plan to leave, let me know as soon as possible, so that I can address it or prepare. In return for this trust, I can promise that I will treat you right. I won't fire you or be upset. On the contrary, I'll be incredibly grateful, and even more helpful you in your next steps.

I have the receipts. I told this to an employee who later took me up on it. She even asked me to even be her reference for her future employer. I gave a glowing reference, she got the job, and we had a very pleasant final weeks together. If you'd like to speak to her as a reference, let me know! I hope to treat you so well in this situation that you too will be an employee reference for me in the future.