Cary Millsap

  • One Step Short, Part 2

    One Step Short, Part 2

    Part of my education was flight training. A skill that I dreaded practicing was the takeoff and departure stall. To perform one, you climb to a safe altitude and… See more ›

  • A Mathematical Chat(GPT) about the American Flag

    A Mathematical Chat(GPT) about the American Flag

    In 1959, the United States had an interesting flag problem. For forty-seven years, the American flag had 48 stars on it (one for each state—neither Alaska nor Hawaii had been… See more ›

  • One Step Short

    One Step Short

    In high school, I ran track. I didn’t want to run track; they made me. If you wanted to play football in the fall (I did), then you had… See more ›

  • On Useless Knowledge

    On Useless Knowledge

    Where do you fall on the following spectrum? I don’t know what causes people to slot into one category or another. In high school, I felt like most people… See more ›

  • Don’t Burn the Sweater

    Don’t Burn the Sweater

    Note to my non-US friends: a “sweater” is what you probably call a “jumper.” Sometimes in meetings, I’ll use the phrase, “Don’t burn the sweater.” It won’t mean anything… See more ›

  • ELF is for Easy, HALF is for Hard

    ELF is for Easy, HALF is for Hard

    The best negotiating advice I can give you is to follow former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss, author of Never Split the Difference. Following Chris led me to the… See more ›

  • Why it’s Important to End on Schedule

    Why it’s Important to End on Schedule

    Once upon a time I taught a course, in Zürich. It was a good day. I was enthusiastic about the material, and it felt like the students were, too.… See more ›

  • The Sally–Anne Skill

    The Sally–Anne Skill

    The Sally–Anne test is a test that helps psychologists gauge a subject’s social cognitive development. Here’s the test: This is Sally. Sally has a basket. This is Anne. Anne… See more ›

  • The Dog Collar Incident

    The Dog Collar Incident

    My family moved to an 80-acre farm when I was about 7 years old. My parents raised catfish as a side gig. Living on a fish farm gave me an… See more ›

  • A Cure for Writer’s Block

    A Cure for Writer’s Block

    Ever get stuck writing a technical report or a presentation about a project? I’ve got a process that can help. It’s not the only way, but it’s my way.… See more ›

  • On Being Stuck, Part 3

    On Being Stuck, Part 3

    Ever have to clean up a “junk room”? One of these rooms that has disorganized itself out of control, and it needs fixing? I’m not naturally very good at… See more ›

  • On Being Stuck, Part 2

    On Being Stuck, Part 2

    In “On Being Stuck, Part 1,” I wrote about how my friend Henry helped me finish by master’s thesis. Here’s another story for you. A few months ago, I shared… See more ›

  • On Being Stuck, Part 1

    On Being Stuck, Part 1

    In mid-1987, I was in trouble. Not real, actual trouble, but deadline trouble. I was supposed to be making great gains on my master’s thesis, but I wasn’t. In… See more ›

  • On the Value of Mistakes

    On the Value of Mistakes

    It’s baseball season. (!) I miss getting to watch my son play, but my colleague Jeff’s son is a junior in high school, and I can still watch him.… See more ›

  • Compound Interest

    Compound Interest

    This article is inspired by a confluence of events, some of which happened. First, I don’t think Einstein ever said this quote that follows. However, someone said he did,… See more ›

  • Awesome App of the Day: Schlage Warranty Service

    Awesome App of the Day: Schlage Warranty Service

    A few weeks ago, the door to our back yard stopped closing. When we’d swing it shut, the latch bolt wouldn’t do its spring-loaded retraction thing. It would hit… See more ›

  • On Perfectionism

    On Perfectionism

    Once I asked one of my employees, an outstanding software developer named Dave, an interview question: “If I were to call your most recent manager, what would he identify… See more ›

  • Messed-Up App of the Day: High School Event Tickets

    Messed-Up App of the Day: High School Event Tickets

    A couple years ago, watching my daughter play volleyball cost $4. You needed cash to get in. You’d get a smile and maybe even a hug if you brought… See more ›

  • My “Museum-Quality Aviation Replicas” Hobby

    My “Museum-Quality Aviation Replicas” Hobby

    I started building plastic model airplanes when I was five years old. The first model I ever built was a little Ju-88 or something like it, that my Mom… See more ›

  • Messed-Up App of the Day: Embedded Toilet

    Messed-Up App of the Day: Embedded Toilet

    I apologize. I know the photo is unsavory, but this toilet—this one in particular—has a lesson to teach us. Look real closely at the lid. Not the seat lid,… See more ›

  • The Algorithm, Part 2

    The Algorithm, Part 2

    Last week, I posted about Elon Musk’s The Algorithm. I love its five steps, but I had to deal with some dissonance when I compared The Algorithm with my… See more ›

  • The Algorithm

    The Algorithm

    Lately I’ve been listening to Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson on Everand. One particularly interesting topic to me is what Elon calls The Algorithm. It is the factory optimization… See more ›

  • Four Great Reasons to Go to a Conference

    Four Great Reasons to Go to a Conference

    I think when most people try to justify going to a conference to their bosses, they usually hit on two justifications: the content, and the networking. Recently, I saw… See more ›

  • The Hulk Thing

    The Hulk Thing

    Yesterday, I watched my daughter’s high school volleyball team win round three of their Texas class 6A state tournament. They played as well as I’ve ever seen them play. One… See more ›

  • “Fill the Glass”

    “Fill the Glass”

    It’s the hallmark test for optimism, this question, “Is the glass half empty? Or half full?” Supposedly, if you answer “half empty,” then you need to stop being such… See more ›

  • Millsap’s Fable: the Globe-Maker

    Millsap’s Fable: the Globe-Maker

    Here’s a fable. A fine and renowned globe-maker one day visits the seashore. As he contemplates the ceaseless motion of the sea, a horror overcomes him. He realizes that… See more ›

  • Another Filter Early Opportunity: the Email Blast

    Another Filter Early Opportunity: the Email Blast

    To: all@yourcompany.com From: bigprocess@yourcompany.com ATTENTION ALL EMPLOYEES: YOUR X-9 REPORT IS DUE BY CLOSE OF BUSINESS THIS FRIDAY. NO EXCEPTIONS! IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT YOUR X-9… See more ›

  • 25 Years, One Job

    25 Years, One Job

    A couple of weeks ago, I received an email prescribing that people should have a 25‑year plan. It caught my attention because I’ve learned many times, many ways, that… See more ›

  • Tuesday Zoom with C. J. Date, Part 1

    Tuesday Zoom with C. J. Date, Part 1

    “Aw, what’s the worst that could happen?” Ha! Ok, how ’bout you make a decision late last night that renders your Zoom guest unable to log in, and so… See more ›

  • Messed-Up App of the Day: International Mail

    Messed-Up App of the Day: International Mail

    Yesterday, I sent a package to a friend in Europe. I had been procrastinating, because sending packages internationally is no fun. Here’s how it works: Three times data entry,… See more ›

  • Why I Chose Danny

    Why I Chose Danny

    In early 1999, I was a vice president at Oracle, standing at the back of an auditorium in Caesars Palace, watching the keynote speaker I had invited to a… See more ›

  • The What and the Why of Being the Lowly Scribe

    The What and the Why of Being the Lowly Scribe

    In last week’s article about what and why, I used “notes-taker for today’s meeting” as an example of an assignment that an ambitious professional might consider disappointing. But is… See more ›

  • And Two More Things

    And Two More Things

    In my recent Christmas story article, I mentioned that, to master a skill, there are three assets you need: knowledge, tools, and network. Actually, there are two more—making five in… See more ›

  • On the Importance of Insisting upon Answering the Right Question

    On the Importance of Insisting upon Answering the Right Question

    Here’s a quiz for you. It’s the intro to a true story with a happy ending: Executives report a problem with Payroll processing. It’s so slow that they’re not… See more ›

  • Catchphrase

    Catchphrase

    It finally happened. Several years ago, I asked my friend Mauro Pagano to help me spread a new catchphrase. I had made up this little saying. It was weird enough that I… See more ›

  • A Side Trip to Wonderhell

    A Side Trip to Wonderhell

    I should be jubilant. But I’m not. I’m habitually non-jubilant. I don’t know why. This weekend, I returned from the kind of a trip that I don’t take very… See more ›

  • A Better Way to Think about “%”

    A Better Way to Think about “%”

    A lot of people get confused by the “%” symbol. I can understand why. Even the Wikipedia Percentage page seems way more confusing than it should be. Well, maybe… See more ›

  • Version 1 Is Never the Answer

    Version 1 Is Never the Answer

    I create for a living. I make presentations and software and books… Even my hobbies are creation hobbies. I make tools and furnishings and, these days, “museum quality aviation replicas.”… See more ›

  • Why the Oak Table Was So Great

    Why the Oak Table Was So Great

    This weekend, I watched a wonderful TEDx video by Barbara Sher, called “Isolation Is the Dream-Killer, Not Your Attitude.” Please watch this video. It’s 21 minutes, 18 seconds long. It reminded me about… See more ›

  • How I Spent My COVID Vacation

    How I Spent My COVID Vacation

    I haven’t blogged in, what, …forever. A couple of years. I have been writing, though. Just not here. A lot, actually. Here’s some of the stuff I’ve done during my… See more ›

  • Words I Don’t Use, Part 4: “Expert”

    Words I Don’t Use, Part 4: “Expert”

    The fourth “word I do not use” is expert. When I was a young boy, my dad would sometimes drive me to school. It was 17 miles of country roads and… See more ›

  • Words I Don’t Use, Part 3: “Best Practice”

    Words I Don’t Use, Part 3: “Best Practice”

    The third “word I do not use” is best practice. The “best practice” serves a vital need in any industry. It is the answer to, “Please don’t make me learn… See more ›

  • Words I Don’t Use, Part 2: “Holistic”

    Words I Don’t Use, Part 2: “Holistic”

    The second “word I do not use” is holistic. When people use the word “holistic” in my industry (Oracle), it means that they’re paying attention to not just an individual… See more ›

  • Words I Don’t Use, Part 1: “Methodology”

    Words I Don’t Use, Part 1: “Methodology”

    Today, I will begin a brief sequence of blog posts that I’ll call “Words I Don’t Use.” I hope you’ll have some fun with it, and maybe find a… See more ›

  • Messed-Up App of the Day: Tables of Numbers

    Messed-Up App of the Day: Tables of Numbers

    [ This post was edited 2023-10-05. ] Quick, which database is the biggest space consumer on this system? Database Total Size Total Storage ——————– ————— ————— SAD99PS 635.53 GB… See more ›

  • Fail Fast

    Fail Fast

    Among movements like Agile, Lean Startup, and Design Thinking these days, you hear the term fail fast. The principle of failing fast is vital to efficiency, but I’ve seen project managers and business partners be offended… See more ›

  • Loss Aversion and the Setting of DB_BLOCK_CHECKSUM

    Loss Aversion and the Setting of DB_BLOCK_CHECKSUM

    My team and I have recently been discussing the Oracle db_block_checksum parameter and how difficult it is to get clients to set it to a safer setting. Clients are… See more ›

  • The “Two Spaces after a Period” Thing

    The “Two Spaces after a Period” Thing

    Once upon a time, I told my friend Chet Justice why he should start using one space instead of two after a sentence-ending period. I’m glad I did. Here’s the story.… See more ›

  • Thinking Clearly Is More Important than the Right Answer

    Thinking Clearly Is More Important than the Right Answer

    Have you ever met anyone who attracted your attention because he had the right idea, but the more you got to know how he arrived at that idea, the less attracted… See more ›

  • Filter Early

    Filter Early

    Yesterday, my 12 year-old son Alex was excited to tell me that he had learned a new trick that made it easier to multiply fractions. Here’s the trick: The… See more ›

  • On “Is a Computer Science Degree a Good Goal?”

    On “Is a Computer Science Degree a Good Goal?”

    Dan Fink’s “Is a computer science degree a good goal?” has gotten my wheels going. I think it’s important to note this: Computer Science ≠ Information Technology Not only… See more ›

  • The “Do What You Love” Mirage

    The “Do What You Love” Mirage

    I am inspired by having read an article called “Do what you love mirage” by Denis Basaric. It begins… “Do what you love” is advice I hear exclusively from financially… See more ›

  • Maxine Johnson

    Maxine Johnson

    I want to introduce you to Maxine Johnson, assistant manager of men’s sportswear at Nordstrom Galleria Dallas. The reason I think Maxine is important is because she taught my son… See more ›

  • Last Call for C. J. Date Course

    Last Call for C. J. Date Course

    Note added 3 April 2009: When I wrote this post, we were counting down toward 2 April as the date for our preliminary go/no-go decision. That date is now… See more ›

  • What Donald Knuth Actually Wrote

    What Donald Knuth Actually Wrote

    I’ve been reading a little Knuth for the past couple of days. I’ve read about the famous statement, “premature optimization is the root of all evil,” many times, and… See more ›

  • A Lesson in Writing from 1944

    A Lesson in Writing from 1944

    I watched the Presidential debate tonight. One of the candidates mentioned a pair of letters that General Dwight David Eisenhower wrote in 1944. He wrote one letter that he… See more ›