The Joy of Creation

I still remember the first lines of code for Askdata. We wanted people to ask questions of their data in ordinary language. The ambition was easy to describe; making it work was another matter.

That distance between an idea and something someone can use is where I find much of the pleasure in building. You make a first version, see what it gets wrong, and try again. Progress is often small enough that only the people doing the work notice it.

The frustrating parts belong to the process too. A constraint can force a simpler solution. A feature that seemed essential can become less important after a conversation with a user. At Askdata, some of our better ideas came from limitations we initially wanted to get around.

Building with other people

Every significant thing I have helped build has changed through conversations. Team members challenged assumptions. Users brought problems we had not considered. The result became more useful because it had passed through several minds.

That requires a particular kind of trust: enough confidence to put an unfinished idea in front of someone, and enough patience to hear why it might not work. I have had to learn that repeatedly.

The acquisition by SAP mattered enormously. It was a business milestone and recognition of years of work. I also remember the less visible parts: getting an interaction right, understanding a difficult problem, seeing a user do something we had hoped would be possible.

Those are the moments I want to keep making time for. There is satisfaction in finishing something, and there is a different pleasure in having an idea worth working on tomorrow.