Hi, I'm Ben.
I love to solve problems collaboratively and build things, particularly in areas that live at the intersection of art and science.
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Professional Work
A leader in software engineering for over 25 years.
Ben has co-authored open-source software tools used by millions of developers, spent a decade building Google’s Chicago engineering office from a tiny outpost into a major hub, and dramatically improved the speed of Google Search for billions of users. He specializes in rapidly understanding, summarizing, and navigating complex landscapes – whether they be technical or social. He’s coached dozens of leaders, keynoted tech conferences, co-authored a popular book on the “art of teamwork” in software engineering, and has a strong track record of turning dysfunctional groups into inclusive, high-functioning teams. Preaching collaboration based on a foundation of humility, respect, and trust, he uses these tools to build bridges across organizations.
Books
Writings about social skills and collaboration in software engineering, and the art of team management.
- Debugging Teams, 2015, O’Reilly Media
- Version Control with Subversion, 2008, O’Reilly Media
- Software Engineering at Google, Chapter 6, 2020, O’Reilly Media
Industry Talks
Professional speaker with 100+ engagements over the last twenty years at OSCON, PyCon, Google I/O, and other conferences.
- “How to Leader”, in deck form, and book form.
- Google I/O Presentations, 2008-2012 (YouTube playlist)
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Ben is a lifetime resident of Chicago, where he lives with his wife, kids, and cats.
Personal Work
Music
I’m an amateur jazz pianist, bluegrass banjo player, and love to sing in barbershop quartets.
I’ve had a long-standing “moonlight” career as a composer for Chicago theaters. With my collaborator Andre Pluess, we’ve written multiple new musical theater works. Our most successful original musical was probably Winesburg, Ohio — an adapation of Sherwood Anderson’s famous novel — which played in Chicago (Steppenwolf), Philadelphia, (Arden), and New York City (NAMT.) It won a both a Jeff Award (Chicago) and an Ovation Award (LA). Later on, our musical — Eastland — had its debut in 2012 at Lookinggglass Theatre and received three Jeff Award nominations and another showcase in New York City (NAMT). See the writeup in Time Magazine.
Photography & Illustration
I have a keen interest in photography, both digital and film — sometimes making prints in my darkroom. You can see some of my favorite work on my Flickr stream, and more daily work on my Instagram. I occasionally do professional work, shooting events, weddings, and headshots. I have an Introduction to Photography page that I wrote for friends getting into the hobby.
I also love illustration as an alternate means of capturing a moment in time. I enjoy working in graphite, ink, and watercolor, and participate in various Urban Sketching events.
Storytelling
I’ve participated in the Interactive Fiction scene, a indie-game game community that authors and plays pure-text computer games like those developed by Infocom in the 1980s. My friend Jack Welch and I co-authored several games using the Inform programming language. The game Rover’s Day Out won the 2009 Interactive Fiction Competition, and the game Hoosegow won the 2010 JayIsGames “One Room Escape” Competition.
And of course I’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons since 1980 — a deeply collaborative, creative, problem-solving improv game. I’ve recently published an adventure you can get from the DM’s Guild.
Languages
I love linguistics and all interesting forms of communication. I studied Spanish, Latin, and German when I was young; more recently I’ve been learning Japanese as a challenge. I like to practice speaking with natives in social media apps like HelloTalk.
Even morse code holds a place in my heart. I have an Extra-class FCC amateur radio license, using the callsign NN9S. I enjoy talking on the air, doing low-power morse-code communication from hilltops when traveling.
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My longer essays are in my personal blog .