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mdy.bsky.social
mdy
@mdy.bsky.social
230 followers 260 following 480 posts
Tech addict. Doting aunt. Alto. Kdrama viewer. Sporadic blogger. Perennial dieter. Part-time writer and editor. Consultant. https://mdynotes.com
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mdy.bsky.social
Whoa that 63% of PH respondents say they are watching for or actively seeking new employment.

Source: Gallup's "State of the Global Workplace 2025" Report. www.gallup.com/workplace/34...
A table titled "Intent to Leave" shows survey results on job-seeking activity in Southeast Asian countries. The columns are Rank, Country, Change, and "% Watching for or actively seeking new job." Rank 1: Philippines, Change –2, 63%. Rank 2: Myanmar, Change +1, 59%. Rank 3: Laos, Change –2, 56% Rank 4: Indonesia, Change –1, 52%. Rank 5: Thailand, Change –1, 44%. The Philippines has the highest percentage of workers watching for or actively seeking a new job (63%), while Thailand has the lowest among the listed countries (44%).
September 9, 2025 at 2:17 AM
mdy.bsky.social
Today's fun bit of AI trivia: I asked ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini to create a transcript for a mock informational interview between two people.

**ALL THREE** AI services named one of the interview participants "Jordan" and gave the same rationale when asked why.
Claude: Jordan - I chose this gender-neutral name deliberately since I didn't want to make assumptions about gender in senior T&S roles. The gender neutrality also allowed the conversation to flow without gender-based assumptions affecting the dynamic. My approach was to: 1. Use names that sound contemporary and professional 2. Reflect the diversity commonly found in tech T&S teams 3. Avoid names that might carry strong cultural associations that could distract from the content 4. Choose names that would feel believable for professionals in these roles ChatGPT: I chose “Alex” and “Jordan” because they are short, easy-to-pronounce, gender-neutral names that keep the focus on the substance of the conversation rather than the identities of the participants. They also work well in a professional setting and can represent people from a wide range of cultural or geographic backgrounds, making the mock interview feel broadly relatable. Gemini: I chose the names "Ariel" and "Jordan" for the mock interview participants. I selected these names to be gender-neutral and professional, reflecting a common practice in many modern workplaces. This choice allows the conversation to focus on the professional roles and career experiences rather than on the gender of the individuals involved.
August 15, 2025 at 8:02 AM
mdy.bsky.social
A great companion read is this piece on "Working High-Low".

"Working 'high' gets you promoted. Working 'low' keeps you from getting laid off. The combination is your new superpower."

personalmath.substack.com/p/the-1-skil...
What “working high-low” looks like High-low employees can move quickly between work of different weights. To work high, you need to: 1. Have a POV about the future (of your product, team, role, company) 2. Get work started that won’t pay off for a year or more 3. Ask “why?” a lot 4. Make bets and be okay with the associated risk To work low, you need to: 1. Know your progress against key metrics (monthly revenue, NPS, etc.) and adapt quickly to meet them 2. Know enough about your team’s work that you can, and do, jump in to help 3. Kickstart projects yourself when needed (write the brief, scope out V1, etc.) 4. Know what good (and bad) work is when you see it The sweet spot is doing both types of work at the same time.
July 24, 2025 at 3:05 AM
mdy.bsky.social
Yes to this "Orchestration vs. Leadership" framing from @lethain.com's recent blog post. lethain.com/orchestratio...

Reminds me of Project Managers who focus only on tracking and reporting on the status (orchestrating) and not on addressing risks, resolving issues, & unblocking tasks (leading).
Here are a few ways you can identify an orchestration‑heavy manager that doesn’t quite understand their current, leadership‑heavy circumstances: * Focuses on prioritization as “solution of first resort.” When you’re not allowed to change the problem or the approach, prioritization becomes one of the best tools you have. * Accepts problems and solutions as presented. If a stakeholder asks for something, questions are around priority rather than whether the project makes sense to do at all, or suggestions of alternative approaches. There’s no habit of questioning whether the request makes sense—that’s left to the stakeholder or to more senior functional leadership. * Focuses on sprint planning and process. With the problem and approach fixed, protecting your team from interruption and disruption is one of your most valuable tools. Operating strictly to a sprint cadence (changing plans only at the start of each sprint) is a powerful technique. All of these things are still valuable in a leadership‑heavy role, but they just aren’t necessarily the most valuable things you could be doing.
July 24, 2025 at 3:02 AM
mdy.bsky.social
That's a clever logo. Rotate it 180 degrees and you end up with the same yh.
The letters y and h, written in calligraphy.
July 15, 2025 at 8:28 AM
mdy.bsky.social
8) Everyone's a maker, so "I've come to agree with you" (i.e., getting buy-in) is very different from "It's a part of me." [33m 43s]

a.k.a. the Ikea Effect.
-- Bob Baxley
June 24, 2025 at 2:38 AM
mdy.bsky.social
7) We need the village to fall in love with the baby. [32m 59s]
Most every product of consequence that I worked on, there was some moment when we were showing it to some critical person, and you could see that they fell in love with it. For me, that was always the critical moment because I knew that design can't bring this stuff into the world on its own. We can't raise this baby. We need the village, and we need the village to fall in love with the baby. Until that happens, you're not really quite sure if this thing's going to take off or not. -- Bob Baxley
June 24, 2025 at 2:38 AM
mdy.bsky.social
6) To build great products, start with a small group of people who are comfortable with ambiguity. [32m 18s]

a.k.a. maintaining Conceptual Integrity (h/t Fred Brooks)
So, I think the trick is, at the beginning, can you find a small group of people from the different functions that can sit with the ambiguity of the space and talk through a broad range of ideas to identify the direction we want to go into? Then once everybody kind of falls in love with the direction, then you can go into the more tactical mindset of, "Okay, when can we ship it? Who can we show it to? How are we going to code it? When's it going to go live?" It's critical to have everybody together at the beginning so they all feel like they're part of it. The worst thing is when you bring something fully baked to anybody for their approval. [People are] not order takers. How do you make them part of the process? -- Bob Baxley
June 24, 2025 at 2:38 AM
mdy.bsky.social
5) Saying a company is design-led does not mean it's designer-led. [23m 28s]

You could say the same thing about any function.
One of the best lines I ever heard was from my friend Joseph O’Sullivan at a dinner one night. He said, "Saying a company is design-led does not mean it's designer-led." So, what I try to hammer home with people is that when I talk about design, I'm talking about it as a mindset. Anybody could have that mindset functioning in any role. -- Bob Baxley
June 24, 2025 at 2:38 AM
mdy.bsky.social
4) While you're interviewing at prospective employers, check: do the company's leaders believe in the work you do? [13m 34s]

Thought exercise: replace "design" with your discipline (product? engineering? research? safety?) in the screenshot.
What I'm usually looking for is, do they have a story as to why they believe in design? Like, really, in their heart and soul, do they care about design? Because if I go into a company that doesn't really value the thing that I do, I'm just not going to have a great time. I'm going to be constantly buffeting up against all sorts of people. So, I want to make sure I've got air cover from the highest people in the company setting the culture. Why would you want to work in a place that doesn't value the thing that you do? That would just suck. Bob Baxley
June 24, 2025 at 2:38 AM
mdy.bsky.social
3) The founder (and leadership team) needs to grow emotionally and developmentally at the rate that the company grows to continue leading the startup. [11m 13s]
One of the things I took away when I was at Pinterest was I came to think that the job of a startup was to grow the founder so they could continue to lead the startup. What's true for founders is also true for a lot of other folks in the executive staff. It's very hard to grow emotionally and developmentally at the rate that the company grows. Bob Baxley
June 24, 2025 at 2:38 AM
mdy.bsky.social
2) Leadership roles are less like climbing a pyramid and more like going out on a tree branch. [10m 13s]
People think of it like you're climbing a pyramid. I think of it more like you're going out on a branch on a tree, and the branch gets a lot more flimsy and can break, and you can fall, and you get buffeted about by the wind. Bob Baxley
June 24, 2025 at 2:38 AM
mdy.bsky.social
So many gems in this episode of Lenny's Podcast.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-83...

An example of the things that I found myself nodding along to (with timestamps).

1) People hire you because of the values of the organization you left, but not the behaviors. [8m 10s]
The thing I took away from Apple, and I think this is true for anybody changing from one major culture to another, is most likely the new place hired you because of the values of the organization you left, but not the behaviors. So, I think it's important to recalibrate and say, "Well, I want to hold on to these values." At Apple, attention to detail, product excellence, doing everything you can for the customer and the user. Try to hold on to those values, but then think, "Okay, how are those values best expressed in this culture?" I think that's useful for anybody leaving one very specific culture and going someplace else is to try to hold on to the values, but not the behaviors. - Bob Baxley
June 24, 2025 at 2:38 AM
mdy.bsky.social
Today's project: rescuing the almost two dozen aloe vera pups that have been struggling in an overcrowded pot and moving them to seedling pots.
Top-down view of 20+ small aloe vera plants arranged in four small pots resting on a wooden surface. Each plastic pot is set inside a colored saucer—two red and two teal. The aloe vera leaves are long, thin, and slightly curved, with some showing signs of browning or dryness at the tips.
May 28, 2025 at 6:26 AM
mdy.bsky.social
Quick question: is it 10,000 saved articles or 1,000 saved articles?

The screenshot that says 10,000 is inside Inoreader after connecting Pocket. The screenshot that says 1,000 is on the blog post announcing the integration.
May 23, 2025 at 3:27 PM
mdy.bsky.social
Importing now.
Import from Pocket: Import started . . . transferred articles will be assigned with the tag Pocket import. This might take a while. Feel free to close this window, and we'll notify you as soon as everything is ready. Thank you for your patience!
May 23, 2025 at 3:22 PM
mdy.bsky.social
Learning how to keep my code DRY.
Screenshot showing a message confirming successful execution of a Python script. The message lists four checkmarks indicating that: (1) the utils/llm.py file is correctly written, (2) the import and folder structure are valid, (3) the Ollama model is running and generating outputs, and (4) the abstraction works as intended. The message ends by stating that the get_local_llm() function can now be reused across the project without rewriting initialization logic.
May 19, 2025 at 9:31 AM
mdy.bsky.social
Achievement unlocked.
Screenshot of a test summary titled "Installation Status" showing a fully working AI agent environment. It lists successful initialization of the LangChain agent, connection to OllamaLLM, invocation of the EchoTool, and receipt of a valid agent response, all marked with green checkmarks.
May 19, 2025 at 3:18 AM
mdy.bsky.social
Current status: jumping down this rabbit hole.
A web browser window showing the localhost address localhost:11434 with the message "Ollama is running" displayed in monospace font on a white background.
May 18, 2025 at 12:19 PM
mdy.bsky.social
The branches are starting to struggle under the weight of the lemons. Will have to figure out a more stable way to support them.
A close-up photo of a small lemon tree with several unripe, green lemons growing among green leaves. The fruits are smooth and oval-shaped, with a few smaller, less developed fruits attached. A green plant support structure is visible in the background.
May 17, 2025 at 10:48 AM
mdy.bsky.social
Spotted on today's walk.
A close-up of an okra plant showing several developing okra pods and flower buds on its thick green stems. The plant has broad green leaves and is growing in a pot placed outdoors with a wire fence and grass in the background.
May 16, 2025 at 8:06 AM
mdy.bsky.social
Thanks for the very clear and concise instructions, @readwise.bsky.social
Roam (API) Export Roam integration updated. You've successfully updated your Roam integration. New highlights should continue to sync automatically to Roam without any further effort on your part. If you have new highlights on books you've exported in the past, they will be appended to the end of the existing notes.
May 12, 2025 at 3:12 PM
mdy.bsky.social
Don't think I'll ever top this one, which was just one lucky move after another.

I just scored 36,688 on a game of at://2048. Think you can do better? Join in on the fun with @2048.blue.
May 4, 2025 at 4:11 PM
mdy.bsky.social
Left: Photo of a Corgi standing on a patch of green grass, looking up at a camera as his photo is taken.

Right: Image of a canine action figure generated by ChatGPT 4o using the first photo as a reference. The prompt is provided in the Alt Text.
Photo of a Corgi standing on a patch of green grass, looking up at a camera as his photo is taken. Image of a canine action figure created by ChatGPT 4o using the following prompt: Please create an image of a canine action figure in packaging. The package should be labeled "PEOPLE WRANGLER". Use the attached photo as a reference for the canine, taking care to imitate his pose, color markings, and expression. The cardboard section of the package should be a healthy grass green with cute canine-related symbols. The packaging should include a dedicated section labeled "Accessories," which contains the following items: a doggy chew toy, a leather leash, a bag of dog treats, and a shield emblazoned with "Nips Stray Humans". Make the overall design visually appealing and reflective of a loyal, energetic, and vibrant canine who loves his family and wants to make sure they never get lost. Only use the provided image as a reference for the canine. Do not include an image of the character on the packaging. Thank you
March 28, 2025 at 5:52 PM
mdy.bsky.social
Lol, I feel seen.
A chat user interface for Claude AI, with the greeting "Hello, night owl. How can I help you today?"
March 28, 2025 at 4:32 PM