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It’s been awhile… 😅 Hi there, it’s April. I haven’t sent this newsletter in years, so before I say anything else, I want to say I’m sorry and give you a chance to unsubscribe (also linked in the footer in case I messed up the tag). No hard feelings at all. Maybe it’s because you forget who I am, maybe you’re an inbox minimalist, or maybe I said something annoying on Twitter one time—whatever the case, I wish you well. (Promoting unsubscribes? My background is clearly in engineering, not marketing…) Resources you might like OK, if you’re still here, thanks! While I’m still working on writing projects, here’s some material I’ve been reading that you might enjoy since at some point you signed up for a list about Compassionate Coding. All Tech Is Human
A helpful starting point to learn about Responsible Tech and connect with others in the space. “When you're interacting with someone else online and it stays online, you feel the person you're communicating with less.… Likes and hearts just don't carry the same emotional wallop as eye-to-eye contact, deep conversation, and full-body hugs.” —100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet by Pamela Paul
A short read that made me feel less alone. Thankfully, some of the things mentioned (e.g empathy) aren’t quite lost yet, and there’s still time to save them. “The best antidote to negative electronic information immersion will be an increase in the amount of natural information we receive. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.” —The Nature Principle by Richard Louv People sometimes comment that my Twitter now is mostly sunsets and other nature photos—this is why! We all need it. “[C]ould work be becoming too enchanting and too fulfilling?…By taking care of the body, mind, and soul, tech companies have colonized the functions of other social institutions.” —Work, Pray, Code by Carolyn Chen
A critical look at workplace wellness programs. I’ve tried to strike a balance in the training I do for companies, but I do think there are reasonable concerns raised here.
“Take one step closer to someone who disagrees with you—whether that means spending time with a friend or relative you’ve been drifting apart from, reading an opinion from an earnest voice on the other side, or sparking a conversation you’ve been both eager and hesitant to have.” —I Never Thought of It That Way by Mónica Guzmán I discovered Mónica’s inspiring bridge-building work through following Braver Angels.
A promise: this newsletter will be human-written with love 💙 Call me inefficient, but I am not eager to jump on the AI-generated writing bandwagon. Most of the top web search results I see sound so stale and recycled already. I fear these automated writing tools will only make that worse. So while I won’t make promises on frequency with this newsletter, I will promise it will be human written (by me unless otherwise stated). Let’s resist the elimination of the human. Another note: I started Compassionate Coding back in 2016 because I saw cultural problems in the tech industry, and none of the existing solutions resonated with me. There has been much development since then, but I still like to consider issues carefully while consulting a variety of sources, rather than immediately signing on to the latest slogan. If you’re looking for extreme viewpoints or easy answers, this is not the place. I’ve fallen into echo chamber traps in the past, but moving forward, I hope to offer nuance, and I welcome your disagreement. Compassionate Coding company updates The past few years have been challenging for us all. My heart goes out to anyone who has suffered tragedies large and small. Part of why I’ve been quieter is it turns out running a small business that relies on in-person interaction can be pretty tough during a pandemic. I’ve been focused on providing remote workshops for teams over the past few years because participants have requested and appreciated them (“It was great to hear coworkers talking about their feelings, it’s humanizing especially for senior to junior engineers”), but for me, there’s nothing quite like engaging with groups in person. Thankfully, in-person events have finally returned! Here’s my talk on Staying Human While Coding from a developer conference in Sweden. If your conference or company offsite could benefit from a tech talk on compassion or a workshop on communication, feel free to reach out.
I’d love to hear from you! As part of my mea culpa for neglecting this list and my Twitter connections, I’m opening up some free office hour slots in the next few weeks, so if there’s anything on your mind, let’s chat. 💙 April
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