Episode 377 | Michael Dowden - Autonomy and People

Guest:

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Michael Dowden talks with Dave Rael about business, people, writing, speaking, and lifestyle design

Michael is a Co Founder and Product Architect for startups Andromeda, FlexePark, and M2D2. For more than 20 years he has been writing code and geeking out over cool technology. He is passionate about keeping things simple and focusing on what provides real value to the end user. Michael enjoys helping other developers grow in their career, speaking at conferences, user groups, and coding academies. In 2015 he wrote Programming Languages ABC++ to share programming languages with children.

Chapters: 0:36 - Dave introduces the show and Michael Dowden2:14 - A changing and changed focus from technology to people5:12 - How Michael got started in software8:41 - The value of degrees13:54 - Multiple foci and staying Michael on staying in programming15:02 - Michael, the conference speaker17:21 - Michael's experience with being an author23:25 - Michael's lifestyle and businesses28:18 - The joy of board games and prioritizing activities you enjoy30:42 - Michael's story of failure - a filed startup and the emotional explosion of not communicating a valuing of opinions35:23 - Michael's book recommendations38:26 - Prioritizing lifestyle over tasks and achievements44:55 - Michael's success story - finishing a book, autonomy of time, and shifting from things to people46:03 - Achieving autonomous liberty50:37 - Michael's top 3 tips for delivering more value52:19 - Keeping up with Michael

Resources: Programming Languanges ABC++ - Michael Dowden Andromeda FlexePark Doc Norton on Developer On Fire TRS-80 TrackJS Michael's Blog Post on Installing TrackJS in Angular 5+ Todd Gardner on Developer On Fire Eric Brandes on Developer On Fire Alex Papadimoulis on Developer On Fire Chad Green Code PaLOUsa Martine Dowden - Michael's Wife Shawn Wildermuth on Developer On Fire Ted Neward on Developer On Fire Isildur

Michael's book recommendation: The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less - Greg McKeown Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (3rd Edition) - Tom DeMarco The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master - Andrew Hunt The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich - Timothy Ferriss The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It - Michael E. Gerber

Michael's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Listen - check your ego at the door and be willing to accept that you may be wrong Practice compassion All other things being equal, simpler is always better