"Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." — the line at the bottom of every email I send. It's a good summary of how I think about work.
My name is Joseph John Karl Workman — most people call me Joseph (Joe is fine too). This is a short manual for working with me: how I operate, how I communicate, and what you can expect. It's meant to save us both time and shorten the "getting to know you" curve.
- The basics
- How to reach me
- How I communicate
- How I like to receive feedback
- What I work on
- What guides my work
- A quick read on my personality
- What drives me a little nuts
- The human behind the screen
- Role: Application Engineer
- Based in: Grand Rapids, MI — Eastern Time (ET)
- Tools I live in: VS Code, Obsidian, PowerShell, Python, GitHub, ServiceNow
- Ways of working: Agile / SCRUM / SCRUMBan — Certified SAFe® 6 Practitioner
- Find me online: josephjohnkarl.dev · GitHub @JJKW1984
| Channel | Use it for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Teams / Zoom / Google Meet | Working sessions, anything with nuance | My default for real conversations |
| Async updates, sharing docs/links, anything you want a record of | I reply quickly and keep threads moving | |
| Phone/text | Time-sensitive or quick yes/no | Fastest path when it's urgent |
My rhythm is a split day. I do focused work during business hours and then pick threads back up in the evening — so a reply landing at 9pm is normal and doesn't mean I expect one back from you that night. Mornings tend to be my heads-down stretch; afternoons are more open for meetings. I'm flexible on timing — if a slot doesn't work I'll propose another rather than leave you hanging.
A few things you'll notice quickly:
- I'm warm but brief. Expect "Howdy," "Afternoon :)," a quick "tyvm!" and a sign-off of just Joseph. I'd rather send three short, clear messages than one long one.
- I keep things moving. I acknowledge fast, loop in the right people, and nudge when a thread stalls. If I cc someone, it's because they need to be there.
- I catch the details. Wrong email address, a missing doc, two versions of the same file — I'll notice and flag it kindly.
- I delegate and trust. If I hand you something, I'm not going to hover. Tell me what you need to do it well.
- I follow up directly. If something's unresolved, I'll come back to it — not through a chain of replies, but with a direct message or a quick nudge. I don't let things go quiet when they still need an answer.
- Emojis in moderation. 😊 👍 — friendly, not noisy.
- Direct is kind. Don't soften it into mush — tell me the actual problem and I'll engage with it. I'd rather hear it early than discover it late.
- Bring the "why." I'll happily change course, but I think out loud and may push back to pressure-test an idea. That's me sharpening it, not resisting you.
- Right over fast. I've literally said "I want to do it right, not fast." If feedback means slowing down to do it properly, that's a feature.
- Async is fine for most things; a quick call is better for anything tense or ambiguous.
- Infrastructure & automation — infrastructure-as-code (Terraform), Azure DevOps pipelines, CI/CD, and scripting in PowerShell, C#, and SQL.
- Platform plumbing — ServiceNow and SharePoint workflows; taking manual, error-prone processes off people's plates.
- Cutting the hidden tax — I care less about "how do we go faster" and more about "what quality problem are we repeatedly paying for?" Rework, context-switching, and avoidable errors are the things I hunt.
- Governance — nonprofit board work: board reconstitution, executive-director hiring, and long-range program planning.
- Recovery advocacy — peer support and recovery efforts.
- Connecting dots and people — I'm comfortable being the one who organizes the group, schedules the meeting, and writes the follow-up.
- Teaching what I learn — I share articles, courses (big freecodecamp fan), and reading constantly. If I find something useful, you'll probably get a link.
- Do it right, not fast. Speed is great; correctness and integrity come first.
- Plant trees for shade I won't sit in. Long-term and legacy-minded — I optimize for what's still standing in five years, not just this sprint.
- Systems over willpower. My mind wants to do all the things, all at once. So I try and lean hard on systems — time-blocking, task lists, Obsidian, a deliberately distraction-free setup (standing desk, multiple monitors, no TV) — to turn that energy into finished work.
- Service matters. A lot of my time goes to things bigger than my job: a nonprofit board, recovery, and expanding access for people who get left out.
- Stay curious. I'm always learning something — a new language, a new tool, a new framework. Currently deep in AI tooling.
Based on my HEXACO profile, a few honest tendencies worth knowing:
- Very high Openness — curious, creative, drawn to new and unconventional ideas. I'll often suggest the non-obvious approach.
- Lower Conscientiousness, by nature — which is exactly why I'm so systems-obsessed. The structure is the workaround, and it works.
- Higher Emotionality + somewhat lower Agreeableness — I care about people and I'll also stand my ground in a debate. Pushback from me is engagement, not hostility.
- Middle-of-the-road Extraversion — happy to lead a group or to go heads-down solo, depending on the day.
None of these are dealbreakers — they're just the friction points that'll help you read me:
- Cutting corners to hit a date. Rushing past the right way to do something is the fastest way to lose me. I'll push to slow down and do it properly.
- Paying the same tax twice. Recurring, avoidable problems — the rework, the manual step nobody automated, the meeting that should've been a message — bug me more than any one-off mistake.
- Ambiguity left to fester. If something's unclear, name it. I'd much rather have the awkward clarifying conversation early.
- Noise. I love being with people, but I keep a deliberately focused work environment and protect my attention on purpose.
- I started my career in technology, moved into customer-facing roles, made a hard pivot to massage therapy in my late 20s, then came back to technology — which was always my first interest and love. I wear the non-linear path as a point of pride, and it shapes how I work with people.
- Family-rooted — one of many, and Grand Rapids is home.
- I practice Aikido — the do-it-right-not-fast philosophy shows up off the mat too.
- Music is a constant in the background of my day.
- My service life — nonprofit governance, recovery advocacy, expanding access to care — is a big part of who I am.
- I'm a perpetual student: degree work through Purdue Global, certifications, and a steady diet of books, courses, and (lately) building with AI tooling.
- I love a good quote and a good idea, and I'll probably send you both.
A living document — last updated June 2026, and it should change as I do. Feel free to share feedback on how we can work better together.