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Hi, I’m Glenn!

Back in 2022, Everything was in flux globally and personally:

COVID was winding down. Interest rates were going back up. ChatGPT was released. I got a new job. I had just become a father.

That’s when I had the idea to start writing to reflect on these watershed moments and how to nagivate the uncertainty they bring. Hence the name State Transition.

These days, I’m writing about that stuff, along with System is As System Does: a book designed to help software engineers sharpen their product skills and think more holistically.

Some favorites

Here are a few favorites. Good examples of what you’ll find around here:

Financial independence as philosophical suicide — The FIRE movement’s focus on frugality and early retirement can be a way to avoid asking what really matters to you. I dig into ways you can find fulfillment and exercise agency in your finances and work.
How to Improve your product intuition - A sample chapter from System is As System Does. Learn how to build stronger product instincts through heuristics, pattern matching, and practice.
The Uncertainty Tailspin - Uncertainty triggers a threat response, but if we learn to manage it, we can use it to discover new opportunities.

Sections

The site’s split into three main sections:

Root Nodes - Core writing, usually longer-form.
Product thinking book - Content from and around my upcoming book on product thinking for engineers
At The Edges - Informal weekly dispatches from wherever my mind's wandering

Blogchains

These are long-term threads on certain topics. They’re not regular or scheduled—just posts added over time, showing how ideas evolve over a long time horizong.

Financial Agency - How money constrains us, how money can free us.
Prompt Protocols - How LLMs can positively change how we approach writing & coding.
Career Ownership - No one is going to give it you, you have it take it.
Edge of Uncertainty - There’s a ton of alpha in uncertainty. It fosters innovation & resiliency.