After 20 years building a successful software development career, my life fell apart. Deconstructing how it happened revealed surprising parallels between how I had approached building a career and family, and how I had designed software. At the root of all was an insidious misconception: one that had hobbled both the growth of my software systems, and my potential for personal fulfillment.

Join me for an honest, sometimes raw reflection on two decades of software development and life. We’ll examine how personal philosophy impacts software design---and vice-versa. We’ll encounter the “transactional fallacy”, and how it can poison our attempts to build resilient systems. And we’ll explore how a graceful, narrative-oriented mindset can lead to both better code and a more joyful life.