Ramblin' & Amblin' (2026-10-22): I've also been a remote first person for

I've also been a remote first person for a long time, I've been doing it since the mid-2000s, off and on, more on than off, but one thing that has really, over all this time, become a rule that I know some folks are controversial on this topic, they don't like to have the cameras on, they have the reasons. You know, a protest against invasion of privacy, things like that. I hear you, and then I'm also aware that, you know, even if we apply filters to our backgrounds, that ultimately the camera is able to take, you know, a native image and just apply the filter in the display. I don't know exactly how it's done, but just knowing how computers work, I know that that's perfectly possible if they want to.

So I understand that reluctance, but I will say this, that particularly as somebody who's been a technical leader, trying to work through organizational challenges on modern ization and all kinds of other issues that appear in legacy systems, and in my case it's legacy where it's 15 plus years on top of a much older infrastructure that is on top of a much older infrastructure. And that's, uh, that's, uh, that's, uh, the level of complexity was so great that trying to communicate this, um , via just voice. And all I see is a bunch of, um, uh, initials on the screen , uh, for the people that I'm trying to communicate with, and I, and I'm already autistic, and I'm already ADHD, and I'm already overwhelmed. So I can't tell from silence and initials whether or not anything I said makes sense, and then it becomes this kind of, um, um, spiral of, of trying to communicate and ensure I'm understood.

And I say this is that fidelity of, of, of, of information, of communication is, is critical here, and that for those of you guys who are working collaboratively remotely, I, I do encourage you to find a way to safely turn on your cameras, uh, at least when you're talking to people that you're collaborating with, uh, because this is part of, you know, the challenge with the RTO, I think, is that I, not that I've been a manager, but I've had to communicate complex coordination at scale, um, across multiple teams, um, for an extended period of time with a diverse set of, uh, collaborators, and the biggest pain point was I would say something, and they would be silent, and I'd say okay, and then they'd be silent, and they'd say okay, you know, just repeat back back to me what I just said, uh, uh, can you say that back again, okay, we're already in, in a trust environment, uh, and, and now I don't know whether or not you were just not listening to me, or what I said was too complicated, and you fritzed out, um, or, or what, you know, maybe you got a , an alert, I don't know, but I do know, is that you, you do this enough times, and, hold on, there's, there he is, he's just a little, uh, little trapeze artist, he just rode the little branch down to the ground, um, but, um, it's not for the corporations, and I'm saying this , it's not for our bosses, or anything like that, but it is for your collaborators and technology who are trying to work with you, and that's, uh, um, if we can't see your face, I can't see if you look confused, um, you know, I'm not the best with, um, with, uh, facial cues, but I can tell confusion, I can tell when somebody's starting to get a little cross-eyed, uh, listening to something, but also, I can see the focus, so I can at least see that the person's focused on what I'm saying, and then I can figure out when to interject, or, or, or ask a question, or stop, whereas, um, whereas when it's just a bunch of initials, it 's, it's, it's, again, it's why even doing these videos is so stressful, because, um, not having a feedback of somebody to say, no, no, what, wait, wait, wait, what did you just say, uh, go back a few times, um, with just a confused look in their eyes, um, is, is, is extremely difficult, so it's, uh, it's understandable why you don't want to have your camera on, um, in a lot of cases, but I am a camera-first guy, and, uh , yeah, just for each other, for, for supporting, um, sanity , uh, with, when you're dealing with a staff engineer, or somebody who 's running across multiple teams, they're not there to, uh, to, uh, to, uh, string you up, they're there to, uh, to make sure that you got the information you need, uh, so that way you can succeed. Uh, and turning on your camera is, uh, at least for those conversations, a great way to, to help that. So, that's just my own little tidbit. Turn on your cameras, folks.

Uh, or find a way. I know. I know. I know we live in a panopticon.

Like, I have to accept certain things are just simply out there, and I'm never going to have total privacy. But, um, you know, it's kind of the deal we make. Otherwise, we end up not just, um, you know, back in an office, but undermining our own, um, goals of, of, of autonomy and, and some control over our lives. But also, awareness of what it is like to be that manager who's trying to figure out how to communicate with the team .

Um, and, of all just initials and, um, that, uh, you're trying to coordinate all this work and, uh, maybe it's overwhelming for you and everybody's just a blank bunch of initials. Um, and then they want to bring everybody back into the office. Again, not telling anybody exactly what to do. Just saying that, uh, it, to me, it's very helpful, um, for effective collaboration to pull those cameras on, um, for those critical conversations.

Um, if you want to go back to the party chat afterwards and , uh, and the camera's off, that's, that's fine. But, um, it's, it's not doing anybody any favors, um, by having critical conversations with the camera off. Um, again, that's my perspective. All right, thanks.

Bye.