Edge cases are the key to understanding system behavior. First, we should start by defining what an edge case is for those not up on systems. An edge case is any scenario where the state changes. For example in travel, traveling a highway has multiple scenarios: Travelling between cities in the same area (soft edges)…
Perfect objectivity is unachievable
Everyone likes to think they can see the world clearly and as it is. That we can remove our rose-tinted glasses when we choose and correctly set the measure of what is happening around us. Objectivity is that wonderful state of removing your feelings and biases to evaluate what is happening. On many things, this…
We all need a little madness in our day-to-day
I love being a little crazy and out there. There are fewer better rushes than proposes a wild hare idea and seeing what the team does with it. A little madness goes a long way. Madness is how greatness often manifests. Proposing to build an iPhone was madness. Proposing the internet was madness. Building any…
Thinking through peak day operational planning #WorkplaceWednesday
One of the blessings of doing data analytics on real estate/workplace data is that you get to see some truly unique datasets and trends. One of the curses of doing data analytics on real estate/workplace data is that you have to figure out how to explain what those trends mean to people who don’t love…
Just because you have a lot of technology does not make you a tech company
I love when companies decide to pretend their marketing claims are real. Recently, I came back across several where companies that were leading a traditional industry decided to say the equivalent of “We’re not a [pick an industry] company, we’re a technology company.” I have to hold back my laughter every time. Let’s start off…
Don’t check your ego at the door but you should keep a firm handle on it.
I have an ego. There’s no sense denying it because it comes through pretty clearly to people. My wife and family joke (I think it’s joking) that it’s good the people I work with keep my head from growing to big. Over the past decade, I’ve worked hard to develop a good working relationship with…
Two simple steps for picking the right way to display your data.
Figuring out the right way to display your data is an important part of any project. Bar, line, and waterfall charts can bring certain assumptions. Tables can be difficult to read. Scatter plots may be accurate but imply risk or uncertainty This may feel like a trivial problem, but it isn’t. Difficult to understand data…
Three levels of bit/altcoin demand
I follow the world of bitcoin and altcoins with some degree of closeness. It’s a world that has enough opportunity to change things dramatically but who knows whether it will actually happen. A lot can happen with projects as large as these. There is a lot of misunderstanding going around about the nature of demand…
Trust and accountability are a huge leap AI needs to overcome to take over business spaces
There’s a great episode of 30 Rock where Jack (the head of the network) replaces all of the pages with computers. Naturally, everything is going great until Jack has to ship a package to his boss. The package doesn’t make it because he typed in the 6th floor instead of the 66th. The computer system…
Change is the rule, the only question is pace and degree
The world, and particularly the world of CRE, is one of change. If you think this isn’t a world that changes quickly, you don’t really understand what CRE is. Sure, some of the basics still look the same as it used to be – brokers work with clients and landlords to connect them up. That’s…