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Alan Ridlehoover

@alan.codegardener.com

Empathetic leader. Passionate Rubyist. Fallible human. Storyteller. Speaker. Environmentalist. Feminist. Ally. Swell photographer. Rusty drummer. Loving husband & twins dad. Owner of too many hats, given I only have the one head. the.codegardener.com

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Latest posts by Alan Ridlehoover @alan.codegardener.com

Not where I am. But Cisco is huge.

10.03.2026 15:16 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We hold all code submitted to our repo to the same standard, regardless of who or what wrote the code. AI can totally get there. So we’d likely push back on the PM.

10.03.2026 14:55 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Are you a builder who prioritizes shipping software? Or are you a craftsperson who prioritizes well designed code?

It’s a false choice.

You get more done with well designed code and tests than you do without. Craftspeople move faster than Builders who eventually grind to a tech debt induced halt.

10.03.2026 06:01 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Totally! False confidence.

Bugs can still sneak in with 100% line & branch coverage. But, without 100% coverage, you cannot refactor code with full confidence. It's not about bugs. It's about moving fast and keeping your design malleable!

07.03.2026 19:07 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Have you ever been told by an executive that test coverage past 80% produces diminishing returns?

Have you asked them which 20% you should not test?

Have they ever given you an answer?

07.03.2026 10:52 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Come ready to share your experience with disagreement. Come ready to receive the wisdom of the room. And leave with a framework for breaking through disagreements and making decisions together.

06.03.2026 01:27 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We'll cover why persuasion fails, how to facilitate a decision-making process that actually works, and the role psychological safety plays in all of it β€” skills that can be applied to any human relationship.

06.03.2026 01:27 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

There are two words that can change all of that. They're disarming, vulnerable, and surprisingly hard to say. This workshop is built around those words β€” and everything that has to be true for them to work.

06.03.2026 01:27 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Every experienced engineering team has been here: a decision needs to be made, everyone has a favorite solution, and the harder people push, the more entrenched people get. Persuasionβ€”our default tool for resolving disagreementsβ€”doesn't just fail in these situations. It can actively damage the team.

06.03.2026 01:27 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I'm working on an idea for a workshop at #RubyConf. I'm wondering if you would find this a valuable use of your time at a technical conference. Please comment to register your vote. Here's the title:

You're Right! Going from Disagreement to Decision without Damaging Your Team

Abstract in 🧡

06.03.2026 01:25 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ˜…

29.11.2025 05:44 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

But it’s a dry heat…

26.11.2025 15:02 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Same. I felt seen by her talk. I, too, started programming in the 1900’s.

25.11.2025 18:47 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

In an era filled with tech dipshits who never developed emotionally past the age of 13 & use their wealth to become odious monsters ...

... listen to Steve Wozniak.

21.11.2025 19:41 πŸ‘ 6994 πŸ” 1874 πŸ’¬ 100 πŸ“Œ 104

Saw you at the conference. Didn't get a chance to chat. Glad you enjoyed SF!

Which talk should I absolutely not miss when the video comes out?

22.11.2025 17:41 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Vision, Mission, Values A vision statement should be an inspirational postcard from an aspirational future. It should be brief. It should paint a picture. And it should make you wish you were there!

Enjoyed the article!

I gave up and wrote my own definition for vision:

A vision statement is an inspirational postcard from an aspirational future. It should be brief. It should paint a picture. And it should make you wish you were there.

the.codegardener.com/vision-missi...

09.11.2025 20:41 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
XKCD drawing of two stick figures watching a sunset, with the text:

What are you doing?
Lenthening the sunset
Pushing back the night
Giving me a little more time
Here with you.

XKCD drawing of two stick figures watching a sunset, with the text: What are you doing? Lenthening the sunset Pushing back the night Giving me a little more time Here with you.

A love letter by XKCD:

What are you doing?
Lenthening the sunset
Pushing back the night
Giving me a little more time
Here with you.

youtu.be/U8F7UNK9jco

22.10.2025 22:47 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
GitHub - RubyElders/wubular: Created with CodeSandbox Created with CodeSandbox. Contribute to RubyElders/wubular development by creating an account on GitHub.

TIL: Wubular

github.com/RubyElders/wubular

> Wubular is a modern re-imagining of Rubular, built with Ruby compiled to WebAssembly.
> It lets you compose and test Ruby regular expressions directly in your browser β€” no backend server required.

28.10.2025 01:25 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Excellent suggestions.

One other challenge: what happens when the OPUR is unavailable or leaves the organization? Is there backup? Would it not make more sense for there to be a team instead of one person?

17.10.2025 17:22 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

In other words, as the OPUR, I am empowered but don’t have time. The people on the rotation have time but don’t feel empowered because there is an OPUR. I do not see that as a healthy dynamic.

17.10.2025 13:07 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m thinking about changing the run book for the process to make updating the run book part of the process.

17.10.2025 13:04 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

β€œCould you make that change for me so the next person in the rotation can benefit from your learnings?” usually works.

17.10.2025 13:03 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Rather than update the docs or work on the backlog of tickets to further automate the process, they tell the coordinator (me) that changes need to be made. But I am just one person. By making me the OPUR, nothing is happening to improve the system. So I turn it around on them.

17.10.2025 13:02 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

We have a gated deployment process that requires a human to push buttons and check dashboards as a build goes through automated end-to-end tests in staging and canary before being promoted to production. We have a rotation of engineers who run the process. They have downtime while tests run.

17.10.2025 12:58 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Hot take: Developers who are happy to complain about friction within a process, generally don't lift a finger to resolve it.

16.10.2025 20:32 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Hot take: Developers will complain about other people's flaky tests but defer dealing with their own for as long as possible.

16.10.2025 20:31 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Hot take: Developers will complain about a build that takes two minutes longer than they think it should, but will gladly spend two days gold plating something.

16.10.2025 20:30 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Vision, Mission, Values A vision statement should be an inspirational postcard from an aspirational future. It should be brief. It should paint a picture. And it should make you wish you were there!

A vision statement should be an inspirational postcard from an aspirational future. It should be brief. It should draw a picture. It should make you wish you were there!

the.codegardener.com/vision-missi...

#management #vision #mission #values

15.10.2025 00:33 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You know Fito and I will be there!!!

07.10.2025 01:14 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m in!!! Are you?

07.10.2025 01:02 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0