Ruth Malan
ruthmalan.bsky.social
Ruth Malan
@ruthmalan.bsky.social
Systems. Design.

she/her
Pinned
An "alum" of my workshops (💜) was asking when the next open enrollment Technical Leadership Workshop will be, and I realized I haven't run one all year! So, it's scheduled!

50% early enrollment discount.

Dec 2 and 9, 2025, 12PM - 3PM Eastern Time

More info/Enroll: ti.to/bredemeyer/t...
Reposted by Ruth Malan
The next #PapersInSystems discussion is Monday Dec 1, 1-2pm Eastern, Josh Reynolds will lead, and the paper is "The Architecture of Complexity" by Herbert Simon.

More info/sign up (free of course): ti.to/bredemeyer/a...
November 4, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
Looking for a technical book for a friend? Or for yourself?
…Maybe even my book iOS Unit Testing by Example?
Now's your chance to snag a deal at pragprog.com! Check out with discount code "save50"
Do it while you can, offer ends December 1
November 21, 2025 at 8:41 PM
There’s another Software Architecture Humble Bundle, this time with books from Pearson.

www.humblebundle.com/books/softwa...
Humble Tech Book Bundle: Software Architecture by Pearson
Learn the fundamentals of software architecture and support Code.org with this comprehensive bundle of tech ebooks from Pearson!
www.humblebundle.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
We've known about this for quite a while, but we haven't done enough about it: Open Source Developers Are Exhausted, Unpaid, and Ready to Walk Away
Open Source Developers Are Exhausted, Unpaid, and Ready to Walk Away
The foundation of modern software is cracking under the weight of burnout.
ift.tt
November 19, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
just in case nobody has done it before
November 18, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
I really l love it. The flute and the percussion. 🎶
July 5, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
We need a healing spell. 🎶💜
"If one of my friends is ill, I'd like to play a certain
song and he will be cured'
- John Coltrane

"us to..."
-esperanza spaulding, the Songwrights Apothecary Lab

This is "Formwela 1", a healing spell.

youtu.be/YEL1e4n-X2g?...
esperanza spalding - Formwela 1 (Official Music Video)
Watch the official music video for esperanza spalding’s Formwela 1 AVAILABLE AT SONGWRIGHTSAPOTHECARYLAB.COM Formwela 1: designed for memorizing, then hearin...
youtu.be
March 5, 2025 at 1:02 PM
If you’re thinking of participating in the #AdventOfSystemSeeing this year, you have a good reason to treat yourself to a new notebook to journal in, and maybe even some nice pens or whatever.

Last year’s daily journal prompts got turned into this (pdf): www.ruthmalan.com/systems/2025...
www.ruthmalan.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
Starts in 3 weeks. Still some seats, and it’s a *lovely* group to join!
An "alum" of my workshops (💜) was asking when the next open enrollment Technical Leadership Workshop will be, and I realized I haven't run one all year! So, it's scheduled!

50% early enrollment discount.

Dec 2 and 9, 2025, 12PM - 3PM Eastern Time

More info/Enroll: ti.to/bredemeyer/t...
November 12, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
oooh I have a talk on power coming up tomorrow for a leadership group I help facilitate and I can’t wait to share this with them: nonprofitquarterly.org/are-we-ready...
November 8, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
Minneapolis now has Prince library cards, so obviously @joelaha.bsky.social and I got ours!
November 8, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
Another rereading advocate:

"I'm very much a rereader. I reread all the time. Books wait for you, and they blossom in the time between readings..."
- Helen Oyeyemi, New Yorker interview

In general, there is so much value in rereading, especially books that impacted us profoundly in the past.
July 11, 2024 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
It's a launch day at @redmonk.com!

My colleague @monkchips.com, along with his lovely coauthors @kimmykimkimber.bsky.social @wiredferret.bsky.social & @azimman.bsky.social have released their Progressive Delivery book into the world!

Let me tell you about their book!

redmonk.com/rstephens/20...
Progressive Delivery
My colleague James Governor has been talking about Progressive Delivery since helping coin the term in 2018. He joined forces with co-authors Kim Harrison, Heidi Waterhouse, and Adam Zimman to write a...
redmonk.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:49 PM
The next #PapersInSystems discussion is Monday Dec 1, 1-2pm Eastern, Josh Reynolds will lead, and the paper is "The Architecture of Complexity" by Herbert Simon.

More info/sign up (free of course): ti.to/bredemeyer/a...
November 4, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
One of my standards. Once you have the flavoring pastes, it's easy to make this using tofu (or eggs) and whatever vegetables you have in the fridge.

thekoreanvegan.com/best-doenjan...
November 4, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Join us in discussing this on Monday (Nov 3)?
Next in #PapersInSystems:

“User Driven Innovation: a condensed version of Eric Von Hippel's course,” curated by Bracken Mosbacker

When: Mon Nov 3rd, 1–2pm Eastern Time (US/Canada)

Notes with links to curated video segments: bracken.social/articles/use...

Info/signup: ti.to/bredemeyer/u...
User Driven Innovation
A curated synopsis.
bracken.social
November 1, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
definitely adding to Mount To Be Read
Ooh, Simon Schaffer reader coming down the pike. I blogged through a good chunk of his oeuvre back in the day, which was really illuminating. Too bad they didn't include "The Show That Never Ends" (on perpetual motion), which is probably my favorite: doi.org/10.1017/S000... #HPS
Working Knowledge
Collects key articles by Simon Schaffer, one of the most important historians of science working today.  Working Knowledge is the first English-language collection of essays by Simon Schaffer, coautho...
press.uchicago.edu
November 1, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
Reposted by Ruth Malan
New blog post, in a slightly new style!

Why do groups sometimes get stuck on the wrong thing?
How do minority voices help systems stay honest?
What does design has to do with dissent?

Some thoughts, and some group science, on problems big and small

www.jrwinget.com/blog/2025-10...
When Groups Get Stuck on the Wrong Problem – Jeremy R. Winget, PhD
Dissent, sharedness, and the design of collective intelligence
www.jrwinget.com
October 31, 2025 at 6:56 PM
“wish I’d found this 10 years ago”
Next in #PapersInSystems:

“User Driven Innovation: a condensed version of Eric Von Hippel's course,” curated by Bracken Mosbacker

When: Mon Nov 3rd, 1–2pm Eastern Time (US/Canada)

Notes with links to curated video segments: bracken.social/articles/use...

Info/signup: ti.to/bredemeyer/u...
User Driven Innovation
A curated synopsis.
bracken.social
October 30, 2025 at 8:41 PM
“this was a really good read! i especially like the chaotic layout of the book 😂”

Still chuckling because … not wrong haha.

About my technical decisions chapbook

www.linkedin.com/posts/bjorn-...
October 30, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
This meeting could have been a duel.
October 29, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
Papers in Systems virtual meetup on Monday!

bsky.app/profile/ruth...
Next in #PapersInSystems:

“User Driven Innovation: a condensed version of Eric Von Hippel's course,” curated by Bracken Mosbacker

When: Mon Nov 3rd, 1–2pm Eastern Time (US/Canada)

Notes with links to curated video segments: bracken.social/articles/use...

Info/signup: ti.to/bredemeyer/u...
User Driven Innovation
A curated synopsis.
bracken.social
October 28, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Reposted by Ruth Malan
The problem with "you can just do things" is that other people can also just do things. You can get into an arms race of just doing things, or learn how to build shared intent.

One of those approaches is masculine and exciting. The other one actually works.

Guess which one AI tools encourage?
The social lives of ideas (Don't Just Do Things, Part 3)
No amount of outputs will help maintain unbroken intent all the way through to delivery.
productpicnic.beehiiv.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:41 PM