John Schrag

Ontario had two “jewels” in the City of Toronto — The Science Centre, and Ontario Place. Premier Doug Ford has managed in his tenure to destroy both of them, in both cases for shady and corrupt reasons.

Now he’s working to wreck Toronto’s own jewel, the Toronto Islands, by supporting Porter’s bid to allow jets at the Island Airport, something the citizens of Toronto have rejected repeatedly.

Seriously, has Ford done anything during his tenure that actually makes the Province better? It seems every action he takes makes things shittier. (See also Health Care, School Boards…)

I am happy that he’s been building public transit, but I haven’t forgotten that if he and his brother hadn’t trashed the already-approved-and-funded Transit City plan back in 2010, it would have been long ago completed. So again: shittier substitute.

I cannot figure out why the opposition parties seem to have so much trouble running against his government.

#ONpoli #rant

I just finished reading “Automatic Noodle”, a lovely cozy sci-fi novella by Annalee Newitz. In a future San Francisco, just after California’s successful war of secession, a group of robot survivors decide to open a noodle shop together.

There are themes of found family and community building in the face of prejudice and adversity, and a lot of delicious food descriptions that I probably shouldn’t have been reading while avoiding carbs.

#NowReading #bookstodon

I’ve been prepping to give a guest lecture as part of a University’s “UX Leadership” program next week. I’m going to spend much of the lecture talking about how the skills that you need to be a good user researcher and interaction designer are key skills you need to be a good leader and to foster psychological safety in your teams. Curiosity, observation, empathy, not rushing to judgement, the ability to emotionally regulate while listening to difficult feedback, to synthesize what you learn and clearly communicate are all abilities that are immediately applicable in leadership roles.

(Sadly, they are not always *present*)

#UX #Leadership