I am just about to finish up my second month on the Clear Measure team, and I am still very impressed with what this team has built considering how young the company is. I’ve known Jeffrey Palermo, one of Clear Measure’s founders, for plenty of years, and I decided to jump at the chance to work with him and his team. It is an opportunity that I could not pass on.
Role Change
Many developers who have worked with me in the past are excited to learn that I am now getting to write a lot more code than I did before, since I’ve stepped out of a leadership position and have taken on a Principal Software Engineer role with Clear Measure.
I am looking forward to the chance to delve back into the world of coding more. I’ve been able to write quite a bit of code while leading my teams, but this will give me the chance to get back to what I love. I’d been looking for a chance to make this change back to development for a while. I don’t expect that anyone can keep me permanently out of a leadership role, but I am in the industry for the development.
I’ve been leading development teams for Steve Smith and Michelle Smith for quite a few years, while we were running NimblePros and while we were Telerik Services. Easily the most difficult decision I’ve made in my entire career has been to part ways with them, primarily because it seems like such a big mistake to stop working with them. I am sure that this is not the last time I will work with those two. In fact, I am already discussing some plans for a side project with Steve.
Diving in Head First
I’ve been extremely impressed with the speed at which I was able to start writing code with Clear Measure. Many others are impressed to learn that I was building and running a solution in my first hour at Clear Measure. That’s just awesome.
Additionally, since Clear Measure had just started the project, I was able to get things running the way I wanted them to. The project is running under continuous integration and is a derivative of this Iteration Zero project. Letting the new guy run loose like that was something I was very happy about. In fact, the entire company seems to be based around the idea that people will make good choices when given the chance. I agree!
Two Dimensional Brendan
Now that I am working remotely, my team primarily sees me through a webcam. That’s certainly a change! I am a big proponent of having a team that is co-located, but for the right team you make exceptions. I think Clear Measure considers me the exception, and I consider them the exception. I’m just glad that we can agree on the situation.
I went from being in spaces like these:
Notice the close proximity and lots of pair programming. No walls and everyone is constantly able to share information and ideas.
In these buildings:
Yep those two buildings are what I like to call “The NimblePlex”. NimblePros shifted around quite a bit between these two buildings over the years. I had 4 different offices while I was in those buildings! Long stories to explain all of those!
Now I am using this desk:
It works pretty well for me. I made sure to get one that was for work and one that wasn’t. I am currently seated about 5-6 feet to the left of where I sit there. That’s important to me, having that separation.
For anyone paying attention to these pictures, I’ve got a Software Craftsmanship calendar on my desk, a Pluralsight mouse pad, an ASP Alliance coaster, and that’s a stack of books in the reflection. Can you identify the books? If you have a copy of the Software Craftsmanship Calendar, you might recognize three stars from this year’s calendar!
I did not expect to be working from home at this point, but it’s been interesting. I am able to have much better lunches than I did before. I now take 20 minutes to prepare and eat a salad most days, and I am watching Star Trek on Netflix during that time. I take a full hour for my lunch break though, so I have time to finish the episode while running on a treadmill. It’s amazing how much more energy I’ve got in the afternoon with this routine. I cannot recommend it enough. In fact, if I do move back into an office, I am looking into having a treadmill there!
Going Forward
I am never one who is without goals. If anything, I would say that I have more goals than I could possibly achieve. I’ve always thought that a good thing, since it gives me direction.
I am working on and planning some Pluralsight courses, which hopefully will be out soon. I’ll keep you posted.
As I’m sure you figured out, I don’t mind working remotely. In fact, it’s got some benefits and has been going well. My next goal at Clear Measure (aside from the success of the company and the projects I work on) is to build up an extremely talented team around me. I’ve started that process already, and Rich Hildebrand recently joined our team up here.
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