Meet Ris

About ME

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ris

I have been developing software since 1996 and have been developing for the web professionally since 2004.

You can reach me on Mastodon: at @ris@risadams.com.

I am a software developer at General Dynamics and a consulting developer for ArchiTECH™ by Barkley.

I am also a maintainer and contributor to many open-source projects, like Selectize!

For the past 17 years, I have been building expertise in web tech, data modeling, and advanced research into human-computer interaction. In addition, I have recently begun to coach and mentor beginning and mid-career developers.

I solve problems.
I am a highly experienced, driven, and passionate developer with skills in software engineering, agile project/product management, and team management.
I believe in lifelong learning, the value of embracing challenges, and taking ownership.
I am interested in Agile practices, DevOps, and continuous improvement.

In January 2020, two major life events happened that made me begin to re-evaluate my life choices.

I became a father to a beautiful son who happens to have multiple medical issues.
Covid-19 struck the world senseless. I began to see things differently and realized real growth needs to happen from within.

I searched for answers in books, blogs, speakers, and other places and realized that the best way to improve my career was to share my experience with others. So I revived my blog and began coaching and mentoring.

Then the best thing started happening: I became more focused, more productive, and more involved. I was becoming a fundamental controller of my life for the first time.

Everyone is asking if this will also work for them; Yes! It is never too late to start helping others grow. My goal is to help others take control of their careers and learn how to shape the direction of their lives in a way that makes them happy.

How you can help me

I learn best via doing. I prefer written materials for reference, but I also enjoy watchhing high-quality videos.

I get exicted about new ideas, projects, and challenges. I iterate fast, but may need your help to iterate deliberatly and stay on target.

Personality

I am an INFP-T personality type and an Artist creative type.

I prefer the how over the why.

My greatest strengths are curiosity and endurance.

There is a subtlety and art to madness.

What I assume about others

I assume positive intent in all interactions.

I assume that you will ask for my help when needed.

I tend to assume we share similar ideals and priorities. You can help remind me what is important to you so that I can do the same.

Your work is not the most important thing in your life.

I assume that relationships and personal interests are more important to your happiness and self-worth.
It isn’t easy to be successful at your job when work distracts and detracts from those things.

Everyone is fighting battles that I know nothing about.

What I want to earn

I want your trust and respect.
I want your psychological safety. I want you to be comfortable with me, to be able to be vulnerable with me and to be able to share when I could be doing something better.
I want to be able to share my life journey with you and to know yours. I want to establish communities and relationships that will flourish and evolve.

My Working style

I have strong opinions, that are weakly held. This means that I prefer to adapt and grow. My working style will change over time

I prefer to embrace asynchronous workflows, and prefer a semi-flexible daily routine.

I believe that the best ideas happen when you have the flexibility to change your routine and are not tethered to a specific schedule.

I am a team player

I believe in expressing gratitude and respect.

I am a good listener, and think before I speak

This may lead to pauses in my speaking
If anything I say is unclear, please feel free to interject, and I will do my best to clarify
If I have strong arguments, I will try to make them clear, but I am typically flexible and accept team consensus when reasonable.

I respect others time and wish to have my time respected as well

Please do not take offense to periods of silence; I prefer long uninterrupted periods of focused work–this allows me to focus on one specific task at a time. I promise that when I can focus on your needs, they will also receive 100% of my attention.

Communicating with me

I am typically a morning person and my best work is completed before noon. My favorite coffee is a vanilla or hazelnut latte.

I take pride in being present and punctual so that I won’t miss things on afternoons, but action items may need to wait until the following day.

I follow my calendar to a fault, so if something doesn’t exist on my calendar, I am likely to miss it. I promise to be diligent in documenting appointments and calendar worthy information

My Prefered method of communication is email or Slack, but I am also open to other methods.