How I Think
Over the years, I’ve realized that the work I enjoy most isn’t tied to a particular title or technology.
It’s understanding how people work, recognizing patterns in the problems they encounter, and building practical solutions that make their work better.
Increasingly, I’ve become interested in what happens next: how something learned from one customer can become a better product, a better workflow, or a system that helps every customer who follows.
These are a few of the principles and questions that guide how I approach that work.
Principles
Stay close to customers.
The best ideas come from understanding how people actually work, what they're trying to accomplish, and where the friction really is.
Look for patterns.
One customer problem may be a support request. When the same friction appears again and again, it becomes an opportunity to improve the product, the process, or the way we work.
Build before you optimize.
A simple solution in use is almost always more valuable than a perfect idea that never leaves the whiteboard.
Technology should amplify judgment.
AI is most valuable when it amplifies expertise and judgment, making it possible to take on problems that previously weren't practical to solve.
Make the work compound.
The best customer work doesn't end when the problem is solved. The insight should become something reusable: a better product, a better workflow, a playbook, or knowledge that helps the next customer.
Process
I start by getting close to the work: talking with customers, watching how people actually operate, and understanding what they’re trying to accomplish.
Then I look for patterns.
When the same friction appears more than once, I start asking whether the answer is a better process, a product improvement, or something new worth building.
I prefer to make something useful quickly, learn from how people use it, and improve from there.
The goal isn’t just to solve today’s problem. It’s to make the next one easier to solve.
Questions I Keep Returning To
- What is this customer really trying to accomplish?
- What work should disappear entirely?
- What can this customer teach the product?
- If we started from scratch today, would we build it this way?
- How do we turn one successful outcome into a repeatable system?