
Thoughts in Between Ed and Tech #5: Watch it Grow š±
#Unautomatable consistency wk 14/26
Iām on the train early this Friday, and Iāve finally optimized my route from home to the office. No more Millbrae station, except in passing.
The next chapter has begun.
I can feel it. My knowledge is growing. Of the individuals on our team, of our products, of our students. My impact and responsibilities are growing. Iām watching everything carefully and taking it seriously. Iām working as hard as I possibly can on this Head of Product thing.
Importantly, Iām still having a blast š.
Yesterday was officially my 30th day of this new adventure. Iām starting to wrangle the beast in, and I still feel like Iām in the right place at the right time. Following that path of meaningful engagement.
Iām grateful to be here.
In fact, here is the other side of the train today, as I head south to Silicon Valley. My shift in viewpoint has allowed me to appreciate the unique beauty offered by the other side of the tracks.
Thereās a familiarity, but also a newness.
I went down and to the left today.
Thatās kind of how I feel after my first 30 days, heading into my next 30. Familiar, but new.
Iāve cleared some of the weeds, and have started planting some flowers. Iām ready to keep iterating on the clear-weeds-plant-flowers loop, and also want to reflect on where Iāve been already.

I feel like now is the time to appreciate some of the seeds already planted. While many seeds are still keeping warm underground, a few seedlings have started reaching toward the sky, and one or two others are even beginning to bud.
What a perfect opportunity to reframe the scene and to consciously spend a few moments watching the flowers grow.
Striving Toward Balance & Integration
I strive for integration. Between work and life, building and selling, directing and instructing, leading and following.
To balance and integrate requires focus, pruning, and relentless optimizing, via negativa.
Our company offsite last week helped me move towards integration. It helped me figure out what not to do. I feel fortunate and solid in terms of the direction that Iām moving in.
Itās the direction of growth.
Q2 has its foci.
This week, itās been a lot easier to say āNo, I will not take part in [A], but I will take part in [B],ā or āPerson [X] has the ball on that task until it gets to [Y] stage, where I will then take the handoff to execute [Z].ā
The simple magic of defining purview and responsibility by identifying and clarifying the āwhat not to dosā for everyone is a gift. If allowed to flow down from leadership to the front lines, itās a gift that keeps on giving.
Whatās New?
We had a handful of new instructional staff begin working this week, and the transition served as an invaluable stress test for the systems and processes that support our courses. This week shone a light on areas ripe for improvements.
From mundane tasks like instructor onboarding to the more ephemeral to-dos like handing off implicit institutional knowledge not yet codified into explicit training, opportunities to teach and learn were abundant.
Many of us came together to solve problems collaboratively. This forced us to draw sharp lines between responsibilities, balance the load, and move toward a more integrated approach. We worked together to figure out what to do and what not to do.
As a result, I think that we all felt some collective growth as part of the group.
Mixing in the new with renewed energy amongst the instructional staff felt really good. It was palpable. It was even fun.
Weāre excited about the transformational learning journeys that weāre poised to create for students in 2022.
āÆļø My Yin to the Yang
You canāt have a Yin Yang without sharp lines. But you canāt have a Yin Yang without perfect balance either.
While itās been a builder week for me, when I had the opportunity to sell, I seized it. While itās been a director week for me, when I had instructor responsibilities, I dove down into the mud to pull weeds and plant flowers. I did this alongside the instructional staff, sometimes leading, and sometimes following.
Signposting for the road ahead, I know that in this role I wonāt always be focused on seeds planted in the mud of our courses. However, that hasnāt stopped me from enjoying my time in the sun curating new gardens.
This week Iāve enjoyed giving all of the brand new, all of the re-newed, and all of the yet-to-be-made new the time and space to grow.
Iām enjoying paying attention to this stage of growth, just as I hope to enjoy the next one and the next one, somewhere between ed and tech.
And on the work-life front, Iāll be making my first trip back to Dayton, Ohio tomorrow since starting this new gig, where Iāll get to spend some valuable time with loved ones through the Easter holiday.
Integration of work and life in a meaningful way is the true seed of #unautomatable success, after all.