Amitai Schleier

@schmonz@schmonz.com

Force multiplier.
Outcome improver.
Decision sharer.
Developer, leader, coach.
https://agilein3minut.es podcaster.
Musician.
Bad poet (award-winning).
JoinedApr 05, 2017 (@octodon.social)
SelfHostedMar 30, 2025
Pronounshe/they
Podcasthttps://agilein3minut.es
Consultancyhttps://latentagility.com
Morehttps://schmonz.com
Keyoxideaspe:keyoxide.org:PAC6KHICU3QSHQZVPJCZFS7KIA
📌 9 ★ 5 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🌐
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Teammate on most recent team gave me this parting feedback: “I learned a ton, we got lots done, our team dynamics were awesome, and I’ve never felt this kind of team feeling before.”

If your business makes software, I might be good for your business.

https://schmonz.com/snac/schmonz/p/1750949585.435936

...
0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

"I might choose to feel bashful for having bothered to care in certain working environments; but it's in those environments, ruled by fear and pain, that I've needed to care — and be cared for — the most."

@schmonz

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111244393505101118



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111246767023266852

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

If you could only do one #Agile practice: Retrospect.

If you could only listen to one Agile in 3 Minutes: This one.

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111244393505101118



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111245034981629483

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

@GeePawHill Then a bunch of tickets must have been previously filed on my behalf.



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111236080568967034

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

@GeePawHill in that case, Debatably Intelligent Person Suggested Heretofore Indefensible Tactic



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111235855210446544

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

@GeePawHill yes and also PEBEOGWSECFPBCL ("Problem Exists Between Ears Of Grownup Who Somehow Expected Convenience From Printer Being Centrally Located")



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111235801061954791

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Advisory: local printer denial of service. Service back to normal upon discovery and removal of scale-model automobile.



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111235714594241149

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Code is a liquid, sort of.

It has a shape determined by its container.

It has viscosity. The more viscous, the slower to change shape.

It costs more energy to boil it down than to pour more in.

(But pouring more in usually makes it more viscous. Non-newtonian fluid?)



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111234716338884367

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

@GeePawHill @bagder I don't (and don't have a VM with that system around), but I'm probably adjacent to some people familiar with it, but-but it looks like you folks have already figured out what to do with the report. Thanks for curl!



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111230472273303316

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Last week I rediscovered a messy directory last touched four years ago. I had been spiking something. But what?

Watch me move from confusion, to awareness, to planning. Less than 30 minutes.

https://youtu.be/SWDnrSHeT3s



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111223627137593426

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

This one’s important to me, for reasons of Medtner and also of circumstance.

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111217301262307554



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111219091734477834

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

@craigmaloney cool. Welcome back to being on something recent 🙂



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111218095261816135

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

@craigmaloney Yowza. Going one major at a time, or LTS-by-LTS, or what? Not knowing Ubuntu in much detail I guess I’d probably do as many small upgrades as possible.



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111217709347042934

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

A #WeeklyPiano #Medtner trifecta: here’s Op. 39 “Forgotten Melodies” No. 4, Canzona matinata (“Morning song”). When performed it’s intended to lead directly into Sonata tragica, which shares thematic material.

In art as in life. May we make it otherwise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTc5eIkWzgo&list=PLkuryjnRFclTzNyap3TRgLtWxgQmbu5Am&index=50

@classicalmusic



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111217301262307554

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

You may know Jerry Weinberg from “The Psychology of Computer Programming” or “Secrets of Consulting.” But let’s briefly pretend that his magnum opus was this convo with Ryan Ripley and me on the writing process, errors, perfectionism, and self-awareness.

https://ryanripley.com/agile-impressions-and-errors-with-jerry-weinberg/



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111216667704013507

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

@joeyh@hachyderm.io I have ikiwiki doing OAuth2 to GitHub, but not at all well integrated. I got confused trying to add it to the login selector. Might you have inclination and time to pair program on it a bit next week? "No" is a complete and valid answer (even if I didn't know you're busy with other projects 😉.



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111212640906135166

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Starting an hour from now, my door's open for 30 minutes. Drop in whenever you can.

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111211097313024924



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111211384925598631

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

After a conversation with me, Rich got an itch. Had to go try something.

(What if he rearranged his TDD cycle to visit unhappy paths first? Watch him play: https://youtu.be/yT_23a1z0iY?si=coT2ec5BThvQoOK8&t=1281)

Your turn? My office door's open today, 12:15pm US/Eastern, right here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89405675221?pwd=WHRueXFFbzZoaUsyTkxFV3hrOWpvQT09



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111211097313024924

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

"The eternal challenge of risk management: how can we pay attention to everything we'll wish we had, without paying too much attention to things we'll wish we hadn't?"

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111205035763713606



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111207849622917351

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Baba [face to face with F]: How are you, F?

F: I’m here, Baba.



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111207488743815451

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

"People who can't or won't accept any risk are either reasoning from false premises or thinking wishfully. In either case, their decisions will compound risk. They probably wouldn't accept that either."
@schmonz

#RiskManagement #EngineeringLeadership

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111205035763713606



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111206894061697964

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Today's stream wasn't fun to do. Can't imagine it being fun to watch. But by the end, all the warnings in our soon-to-be dependency were fixed. https://youtu.be/z2Vz19U13Gk?si=ECnZX0ObpEY8OaCo



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111206501244599159

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

For all children in the set of my children, there exists some threshold acceleration a, at or above which swinging is necessarily accompanied by freely improvised singing, below which the singing necessarily ceases.



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111185275340078356

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

On today’s stream, I finished extracting notqmail.org from a GitHub wiki to a self-hosted #ikiwiki site, preserving permalinks and revision history (and live-mirroring to a new GitHub repo). This affords many new possibilities.

https://youtu.be/qX1jPUzFU-Q?si=5U1dqWX-7CtHbc3D



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111184662668855103

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Free learning material from one of the absolute best in our field. Do not miss.

https://sw-development-is.social/@emilybache/111176572807433174



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111183248383191830

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

For folks who have written code:

Q1. What was happening for (and around) you when you first realized that your code is gonna need to communicate with humans?

Q2. What were your first best ideas for how to make it do that (or how to learn to make it do that)?



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111183097278134823

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

What's unique about my #TechnicalLeadership? (Llewellyn Falco saw it.)

What's a #CodingTour, and what did it teach me about making the world safe for programmers (à la @kentbeck )?

How well did solo #OpenSource prepare me to return from parental leave?

https://developeronfire.com/podcast/episode-436-amitai-schleier-safe-for-programmers-and-non-programmers



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111177586968925139

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Piano is losing some more notes, but:

- I miss way more than it does
- The music will find you anyway

As is always the case with Medtner, this one is important to me. Let it sing to you as best it can.

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111172310353422266



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111173031572121608

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Two #WeeklyPiano in a row, #Medtner! From the Op. 38 “Forgotten Melodies”, this beautiful song — on this decaying centenarian piano — shares thematic material with the relatively famous Sonata-Reminiscenza (Op. 38 No. 1).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPa-zFg8Q74&list=PLkuryjnRFclTzNyap3TRgLtWxgQmbu5Am&index=49

#PianoMiniature #PianoMiniatures @classicalpiano



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111172310353422266

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

@krys previous answer was totally legit. requiring additional coffee also totally legit (or else I'm in trouble)



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111171514113066287

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

"An absolute wizard at helping software delivery folks get the most out of themselves and their organizations. One of the few engineering leaders who’s expert at true collaboration across the business-engineering chasm."
— Jim Holmes

What's on your mind? Drop by today's office hours and ask.

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111131958589273543



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111171495731280111

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Every programmer has some level of understanding of the current state of their code.

What are your favorite ways to get some level of understanding on the current state of your understanding?



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111167087432662834

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

"The epistemic condition of being human, of finding our way given extremely limited knowledge, is not ameliorated when we develop software. It is magnified."
@schmonz

#SoftwareDevelopment #EngineeringLeadership #SystemsThinking #CognitiveLoad

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111165750607585068



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111166492843991075

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

What makes this a productivity hack?

- Devs make 1000s of decisions per day
- Emotions are first-order decision inputs
- Emotions derive from information and can lead us to new information
- Programming faster happens when we remove friction, get stuck less often for less time

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111162007959878626



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111163118967826223

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

#SoftwareDeveloper productivity hack:

Before setting some code back down, first arrange it in the best order you can quickly feel.

When picking some code back up, first arrange it in the best order you can quickly feel.

Growth hacks for the aforementioned productivity hack:

Practice the “feel” part.

Practice the “arrange” part.

Practice the “quickly” part.

Meta-growth hack for the aforementioned growth hacks:

Practice practicing with other people.

Communication hack for the previous hacks:

With other devotees of these hacks, you can just call them #Refactoring, #DeliberatePractice, and #EnsembleProgramming (a.k.a. #MobProgramming).



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111162007959878626

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

Another quick, unscheduled programming video: "exim RCE, is my SMTP AUTH code safe?"

I don't run exim, but when the universe suggests that it's a good time to inspect my own code, I try to accept.

https://youtu.be/khdk9pu1IBo

#SMTP #Refactoring #SecureProgramming #C #dev #qmail



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111161253356777338

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

What's it like to write a Unix shell script? Here's a tiny impromptu example: https://youtu.be/x3BS0yL10hA?si=ZoCQyN7P8oK-szjm

Note the higher-than-usual marginal value of the #refactoring steps. Shell scripting has an especially low comprehensibility floor, so a tiny bit of structure goes a long way.



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111149965125446463

0 ★ 0 ↺

[?]Amitai Schleier [he/they] » 🔓
@schmonz@schmonz.com

"If we want to make effective business decisions, we need to start by accepting three premises:

1. Our intuition exerts tremendous influence over our decision-making,
2. It can lead us astray, and
3. It can be developed."

@schmonz

https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111148793690174809



original post: https://octodon.social/@schmonz/111149263320347891

History

Back to top - More...