🌫️ Grant Forrest
@gfor.rest
I like creating things, I am a created thing.
Design Systems @ ShareFile
Making https://biscuits.club (local-first apps: Gnocchi, Trip Tick, Palette) and https://verdant.dev (framework for the same)
Design Systems @ ShareFile
Making https://biscuits.club (local-first apps: Gnocchi, Trip Tick, Palette) and https://verdant.dev (framework for the same)
Ultimately, like everything, it's a communication and trust problem. It would be a fascinating ecosystem of dysfunction to study if it weren't also actively tying me up in both firefighting and red tape at every turn.
November 24, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Ultimately, like everything, it's a communication and trust problem. It would be a fascinating ecosystem of dysfunction to study if it weren't also actively tying me up in both firefighting and red tape at every turn.
AI boosts the power of Group 1, both in terms of delivery and political leverage, since their theory-less solutions now look even better. And it actively hinders the NIH-style overengineering of internal platforms since it isn't trained on your Company Abstractions™
November 24, 2025 at 3:24 PM
AI boosts the power of Group 1, both in terms of delivery and political leverage, since their theory-less solutions now look even better. And it actively hinders the NIH-style overengineering of internal platforms since it isn't trained on your Company Abstractions™
At least in my company there's tension between these groups. Group 1 is frustrated that the 'architects' are making everything complicated and resorts to even hackier workarounds to their rules. Group 2 is overwhelmed by the amount of shaky scaffolding going up all the time and clamps down more.
November 24, 2025 at 3:24 PM
At least in my company there's tension between these groups. Group 1 is frustrated that the 'architects' are making everything complicated and resorts to even hackier workarounds to their rules. Group 2 is overwhelmed by the amount of shaky scaffolding going up all the time and clamps down more.
It's interesting looking around in a large org. I'd say 60+% of developers were already 'code and see what happens' practitioners and took to it really quickly. They were always just tinkering until the first thing worked.
Then 20% were overcorrecting that by "Y-ARE-GNI" "architecting."
Then 20% were overcorrecting that by "Y-ARE-GNI" "architecting."
November 24, 2025 at 3:24 PM
It's interesting looking around in a large org. I'd say 60+% of developers were already 'code and see what happens' practitioners and took to it really quickly. They were always just tinkering until the first thing worked.
Then 20% were overcorrecting that by "Y-ARE-GNI" "architecting."
Then 20% were overcorrecting that by "Y-ARE-GNI" "architecting."
I'm definitely very grateful to have practiced so much systematic thinking, it enhances a lot of my life!
Also learning how to break down hard problems, intuition around right-sized abstractions, etc.
There's a lot to appreciate about this path.
Also learning how to break down hard problems, intuition around right-sized abstractions, etc.
There's a lot to appreciate about this path.
November 24, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I'm definitely very grateful to have practiced so much systematic thinking, it enhances a lot of my life!
Also learning how to break down hard problems, intuition around right-sized abstractions, etc.
There's a lot to appreciate about this path.
Also learning how to break down hard problems, intuition around right-sized abstractions, etc.
There's a lot to appreciate about this path.
The best thing about my longest-running side project is how slow I've been able to go. No pressure to reach new markets or pivot. At times I've only touched it once during a month. It's blissful (although not at all profitable).
November 24, 2025 at 2:43 PM
The best thing about my longest-running side project is how slow I've been able to go. No pressure to reach new markets or pivot. At times I've only touched it once during a month. It's blissful (although not at all profitable).
I guess I'll keep doing my thing and hope it all pays off. At least I genuinely enjoy making things. Perhaps that ultimately lands me in the "artisan" camp outside the envelope of industrial progress. I think I could live with that.
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 AM
I guess I'll keep doing my thing and hope it all pays off. At least I genuinely enjoy making things. Perhaps that ultimately lands me in the "artisan" camp outside the envelope of industrial progress. I think I could live with that.
but more and more it feels like that's being drowned out and outcompeted by the slop. You don't have to understand JS or CSS or React or whatever anymore, in theory. Maybe it looks like I wasted my time building expertise. Maybe I did? But I can't honestly believe that.
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 AM
but more and more it feels like that's being drowned out and outcompeted by the slop. You don't have to understand JS or CSS or React or whatever anymore, in theory. Maybe it looks like I wasted my time building expertise. Maybe I did? But I can't honestly believe that.
The thing that's really floored me about returning to corporate world is how people just put up with the most frustrating, inane junk every day. Or just power through the tickets and never really learn how their tools work. I've always been proud of my cultural impact in those areas on teams I join,
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 AM
The thing that's really floored me about returning to corporate world is how people just put up with the most frustrating, inane junk every day. Or just power through the tickets and never really learn how their tools work. I've always been proud of my cultural impact in those areas on teams I join,
So I feel like I'm rushing even more now, head on a swivel, looking for the next big problem so I can at least attempt to lead a proof of concept effort that actually meshes with the architecture and meets more than one immediate need, e.g. also tackling critical tech debt, etc.
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 AM
So I feel like I'm rushing even more now, head on a swivel, looking for the next big problem so I can at least attempt to lead a proof of concept effort that actually meshes with the architecture and meets more than one immediate need, e.g. also tackling critical tech debt, etc.
It's no longer the deal that you need the experienced senior to sit down and work out the details before embarking on a new feature or service. Now whoever first sees the need shows up with their own little Claude prototype that looks nice in the demo and people think it's already underway.
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 AM
It's no longer the deal that you need the experienced senior to sit down and work out the details before embarking on a new feature or service. Now whoever first sees the need shows up with their own little Claude prototype that looks nice in the demo and people think it's already underway.
And I'm grateful that the folks at my job do appreciate me, it's not like they think I'm replaceable by AI. The painful part is that I'm now having to race much faster to beat the bot slop to the punch on critical parts of the code.
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 AM
And I'm grateful that the folks at my job do appreciate me, it's not like they think I'm replaceable by AI. The painful part is that I'm now having to race much faster to beat the bot slop to the punch on critical parts of the code.
Maybe if I lived in a tech hub instead of NC I could have done more with it while it lasted. But I did get my fill of the VC world working remote and I think that would have sucked. I couldn't build what I really want to exist there.
There's always time to bootstrap something of my own.
There's always time to bootstrap something of my own.
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Maybe if I lived in a tech hub instead of NC I could have done more with it while it lasted. But I did get my fill of the VC world working remote and I think that would have sucked. I couldn't build what I really want to exist there.
There's always time to bootstrap something of my own.
There's always time to bootstrap something of my own.
What used to go well at work is now eroding -- my big value prop was delivering a high quality, cohesive exploration of an idea before you could finish writing JIRA tickets. Which is exactly what they sell to us with AI.
I still think I deliver on that promise far better, but it's all nuance now.
I still think I deliver on that promise far better, but it's all nuance now.
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 AM
What used to go well at work is now eroding -- my big value prop was delivering a high quality, cohesive exploration of an idea before you could finish writing JIRA tickets. Which is exactly what they sell to us with AI.
I still think I deliver on that promise far better, but it's all nuance now.
I still think I deliver on that promise far better, but it's all nuance now.
I mean, my drive and efficiency is probably in part maladaptive, and maybe this season will force me to reckon with how and why and focus on some other skills. But still, it does feel bad to suddenly feel... commodified?
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 AM
I mean, my drive and efficiency is probably in part maladaptive, and maybe this season will force me to reckon with how and why and focus on some other skills. But still, it does feel bad to suddenly feel... commodified?
I've always been the top contributor on my 9-5 team and I've always had at least 1 side project. These days I have 2 side projects and one of them is actually 5 apps.
I've parlayed this ambition into... 3 failed startup jobs landing in a well-comped but draining corporate gig.
I've parlayed this ambition into... 3 failed startup jobs landing in a well-comped but draining corporate gig.
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 AM
I've always been the top contributor on my 9-5 team and I've always had at least 1 side project. These days I have 2 side projects and one of them is actually 5 apps.
I've parlayed this ambition into... 3 failed startup jobs landing in a well-comped but draining corporate gig.
I've parlayed this ambition into... 3 failed startup jobs landing in a well-comped but draining corporate gig.
Reposted by 🌫️ Grant Forrest
Most churches today preach Satan's justice and God as a happy injustice. This is not the real gospel. The gospel is that truth and justice are mercy and love itself.
c.f. Zechariah 3 and George MacDonald's sermon "Justice."
c.f. Zechariah 3 and George MacDonald's sermon "Justice."
November 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Most churches today preach Satan's justice and God as a happy injustice. This is not the real gospel. The gospel is that truth and justice are mercy and love itself.
c.f. Zechariah 3 and George MacDonald's sermon "Justice."
c.f. Zechariah 3 and George MacDonald's sermon "Justice."
The George MacDonald sermon I cited is beautifully clear on this idea and I owe a lot to him.
November 16, 2025 at 7:28 PM
The George MacDonald sermon I cited is beautifully clear on this idea and I owe a lot to him.
Most churches today preach Satan's justice and God as a happy injustice. This is not the real gospel. The gospel is that truth and justice are mercy and love itself.
c.f. Zechariah 3 and George MacDonald's sermon "Justice."
c.f. Zechariah 3 and George MacDonald's sermon "Justice."
November 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Most churches today preach Satan's justice and God as a happy injustice. This is not the real gospel. The gospel is that truth and justice are mercy and love itself.
c.f. Zechariah 3 and George MacDonald's sermon "Justice."
c.f. Zechariah 3 and George MacDonald's sermon "Justice."
I think that's kinda it. Grace is how the gospel prescribes transformation, not shame. It's not just that shame is an inferior method, it's that it's literally the method of the Enemy.
Satan thinks you deserve it. That hell is justice. But God's mercy is God's justice, not a contradiction.
Satan thinks you deserve it. That hell is justice. But God's mercy is God's justice, not a contradiction.
November 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
I think that's kinda it. Grace is how the gospel prescribes transformation, not shame. It's not just that shame is an inferior method, it's that it's literally the method of the Enemy.
Satan thinks you deserve it. That hell is justice. But God's mercy is God's justice, not a contradiction.
Satan thinks you deserve it. That hell is justice. But God's mercy is God's justice, not a contradiction.
Another humbling thing is realizing we just have one kid and looking at people with more.
I guess the best way to go is to look at each case and celebrate the resilience and rising to our various challenges without measuring one against the other.
I guess the best way to go is to look at each case and celebrate the resilience and rising to our various challenges without measuring one against the other.
November 16, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Another humbling thing is realizing we just have one kid and looking at people with more.
I guess the best way to go is to look at each case and celebrate the resilience and rising to our various challenges without measuring one against the other.
I guess the best way to go is to look at each case and celebrate the resilience and rising to our various challenges without measuring one against the other.
One thing I look forward to (without resenting the present) is what happens after we build up all this executive muscle and then the kid becomes more independent.
Like going back to the base game after beating NG+, one hopes.
Like going back to the base game after beating NG+, one hopes.
November 16, 2025 at 5:03 PM
One thing I look forward to (without resenting the present) is what happens after we build up all this executive muscle and then the kid becomes more independent.
Like going back to the base game after beating NG+, one hopes.
Like going back to the base game after beating NG+, one hopes.