I love creating things in the most efficient way possible, or at least the most efficient way I can think of. That’s one thing I’ve always known for sure.
About ten years ago I was working at one of my first jobs in the electronics industry and my boss asked me where I saw myself in the future. I said precisely what I just mentioned — creating new things and finding better ways to do existing things. He was not satisfied with my answer.
- “What do you mean by things?” he said.
- "Things, whatever it is. I like to be part of the design, part of the solution, figuring out ways to solve problems and to challenge the status quo — it can be about anything.”
- “Will you work on making chairs?” (Laughing)
- “If I find a new better, more efficient way to make chairs, absolutely!”
Through the years, I've been able to better define that passion — it's called innovation. As a software developer, I’m fortunate to have a vast array of tools at my disposal that allow me to innovate quickly and efficiently.
One of the things I’ve learned while working at Kin + Carta is that innovation is not just about the code or the programming, it’s also about the people, the culture, and the methodologies that help deliver a better product. At Kin + Carta, innovation is at the core of what we do. I learn new things every day and am given the freedom to push the boundaries of my capabilities.
7:40 AM: Wake Up
Wake up, take a shower, skip breakfast. I then get my gear ready for my after-work exercise.
8:10 AM: Drive to Work
Commute to the office. The drive to the office takes me about 20 minutes. It’s not that far, but traffic at this time of day can get heavy. I tune in to a radio program that I like to get my mind off of the traffic.
When I get close, I spend about ten minutes trying to find a good parking spot on the street (which reminds me why some days I prefer to take the bus). Luckily, I spot a parking spot in the same block as the office so I quickly grab it. It’s not a big victory but getting a spot close to the office is a good way to start the day.
8:30 AM: Welcome to Kin + Carta
I arrive at the office early, say hello to one of my colleagues who is already here, prepare some coffee and get to work. I work as a developer on a FleXP project, a methodology that combines the functional framework of Scrum with the technical expertise of XP to bring flexible programming to life. One of the XP practices we follow is pair programming, but since it’s early, I have some time until my pair arrives.
I spend time doing code reviews and reading the user stories we are going to review with the team during backlog refinement today. Once I’m done with that, I’m ready to keep working on my pair and our in-flight story. Since we are in different offices, and even in different time zones, one person typically stays later and sends an update at the end of the day when the work is completed so the person arriving the next day knows what to do next right away. This helps us maintain a continuous flow of tasks, along with the ones given to us by our Test-Driven Development (TDD) tool.
10:00 AM: Stand Up
It’s time for our first meeting of the day with the team. We have team members dialing in from all over — a few in Buenos Aires working from home, a few in our Chicago office, and even a few with the client in their offices. We really take full advantage of this collaborative time together, but always make time for something fun to share. Today, we remember the time we all got cold brew in my last trip to Chicago.
