Matt Schouten

Thoughts on building people, software, and systems.

Category: Random

  • Marketing Platform Engineering

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    The exceptional Aurooba Ahmed has written a series of articles on her Working Notes blog covering what she calls Marketing Platform Engineering: In this series, she digs into the particular craft “of building the systems and workflows that enable marketing teams to work at their best.” We worked together at WP Engine, doing exactly this…

  • Manager README: Matt Schouten

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    When I joined WP Engine in 2022, I was asked to write a Manager README. This is a lightly-edited version of that README.

  • Rewrite With AI!

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    I wrote a post on LinkedIn recently. It was a professional rant—strong opinions, direct, and lots of imperative statements. Out of curiosity, I clicked the “Rewrite with AI” button. I was curious how close it would land to the original meaning, if it would capture the directness of the original, and if it would work.…

  • All the Freeze Flavors

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    There is a tiny soft-serve ice cream shop not that far from my house called “The Freeze”. I believe that once upon a time it used to be a Tastee-Freez. It’s a lot like a Dairy Queen, if you’re not familiar with Tastee-Freez. They serve the soft-serve standards: cones, sundaes, splits, shakes, and most important…

  • Jury Duty

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    Recently, for the first time in my life, I had to report to the county courthouse for jury duty1. I wasn’t selected for the final jury, but I still spent two days participating in the selection process. It may surprise you to know that movies and TV don’t dwell on the boring parts of jury…

  • Flushing Away Time – A Toilet Story!

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    Once upon a time, my family decided our powder room1 needed some improvements. When we bought the house, we’d noticed the hardwood floor was discolored around the base of the toilet, like there had been condensation or maybe a few overflows. The toilet itself was prone to clogging. So, we hired a contractor friend2 to…

  • Putting on the Hat

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    If you’ve been in the business world for any length of time, you’ve probably heard someone talking about “putting on my __ hat”. It’s helpful phrasing to signal that you’re taking a certain perspective on a discussion. Someone might say, “putting on my manager hat, we need to get this done in two weeks, but…

  • “We’re ready for change!”

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    The team has just finished presenting their recommendations to their leadership. Leadership is happy about their plan for building the next part of the product. After a small adjustment, leadership is on-board with the sequencing, too. Before the meeting wraps up, the team points out the work would go more quickly, with less risk, more…

  • Vizio TV Audio Issues – They’re (Mostly) Fixable!

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    My family has owned a Vizio TV (model V555-H11) for a while, keeping it disconnected from the internet and using as a dumb display for other devices. The picture has been fine. The audio has had some issues. We have experienced sound cutting out during quiet parts of movies, often accompanied by a quiet-but-perceptible-and-pretty-annoying-once-you-notice-it popping…

  • Overloaded systems and how maintenance fails interestingly

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    I’m married and have three kids in the elementary and middle school age ranges. They’re doing things that normal kids do: growing, learning, being active, participating in sports and other activities. My wife and I both work. Our baseline level of “busy” is relatively high, as it is for any family with three kids at…