Hi. I'm Sid 👋🏽
I'm honestly terrible at self-promotion - talking about myself does not come naturally to me - but I wouldn't regularly read someone's writing without knowing who they were, so I guess I should introduce myself. I've been obsessed with the art of decision-making since I was a 15-year-old taking classes on game theory. I've lived a pretty interesting life in pursuit of wisdom, and I'm here to share what I've learned with the world.
What I've learned:
We live in a world of duality. As the global order oscillates between war and peace, globalism versus tribalism, and the haves and have-nots, we're constantly being asked to decide which side to prioritize in the multitude of divides we encounter. To stay aloof is often not an option.
The duality of the human condition is easiest to observe in ourselves. The biggest struggle we face is harmonizing our inner state with our external actions to find a way to consistently show up to the world in a way that's authentic to ourselves. Finding harmony between these objectives ultimately decides the quality of our lives. This philosophy is maybe best summed by Rumi:
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
What I've done:
In college, I studied philosophy, behavioral economics, and the computational principles that underlie modern software. I have an undergraduate degree in computer science and a graduate degree in decision science, but my knowledge isn't all academic, either. I've worked with companies of various industries and sizes, and I've also spent countless hours studying the philosophy and wisdom of both the Eastern and Western philosophical canons - I share my personal reflections on spirituality on another blog, Two Feet In The Boat.
What I have to offer:
This is where I'll share my reflections related to decision-making on both organizational and individual levels. I'll write on approaches to decision-making from the perspective of prioritizing our internal state, how our internal state is affected by our environment and influenced by culture and technology, and anything else that interests me.
FAQ:
How would you describe Harmonic Decisions in a nutshell?
Think of problems as trees in a forest. Most decision-making tools present various saws and axes so we can chop the trees down. This site is focused on making sure we have the internal will and strength to swing the axe in the first place. Real change starts from inside, and that's what I'm trying to do here.
Where can I find membership benefits?
Membership information can be found HERE.
What's your professional history?
My current day job is at Capital One, where I am a Senior Software Engineer. My last job was at Square, where I worked on software systems that sent money across various countries and payment methods. Before that, I was at The New York Times, building tools for SEO editors and building out The New York Times App for Slack to help The Gray Lady win the news cycle. Before that, I worked for Amplify Education, building tools for other software engineers. Those tools were made open source, racked up millions of downloads, and have been featured in blog posts.
Do you offer consulting services?
Yes! I'm happy to help consult with projects, big and small, related to my areas of expertise. For more information, check out my consulting page.
Is all your content original?
Any thoughts I have are due to standing on the shoulders of giants that came before me, and I try to give proper accreditation to any sources I draw on for my reflections. Please contact me if you find something you think is your own work that I haven't properly cited.
What's your AI policy?
All writing on here is human generated. While I respect ChatGPT and other LLMs' ability to generate text and may use them occasionally as de facto search engines, I'm not going to pass off their work as my own.