Scott Fryxell

My dad was a marine and then a welder. He was in a union his whole career. Marines are cynical. They don't believe you. They've all seen a sharply dressed man fall over a sharply dressed cliff. He wouldn't pay for garbage because my dad knew they were lying about what it costs. So once every couple of months he would take his first 4 boys and we'd load up the van and surf 30 bags of garbage on our way to the Livermore dump. So many seagulls. An ocean of trash — Their game.

Being a marine and a union guy he believed in us — ALL of us. He believed in the collective. He had five boys. We all got his name as our middle name. He never showed favorites. Wouldn't tell us who he voted for even though we knew.

He worked us. Marines don't fuck around. We got up early and worked all weekend. No exceptions. But we got it done together, and he would see to our care, we got fed, and you're with everyone, no favorites. I know stuff now about working with others. stuff that comes naturally to an egalitarian. We have to do it together, and it has to get done.

Peers are egalitarian. They believe in each other enough to know they have to do it together. That's one of my special sauces on a development team. I live in an egalitarian world if your team has a pile of egos — your team needs an egalitarian.