About Me

Hi! Welcome to my blog. My name is Jesse Wellenberg, and I’m a Software and Cloud engineer at Xebia in the Netherlands. I also like hacking around in my free time, and I’m a big fan of open-source software. My technical interests are currently focussed on Programming Languages, WebAssembly, and platform engineering. Besides the ordinary programming work I like to sing, play guitar, and develop (sometimes even play) video games.

My Way Of Working

Automation By Default: I am a lazy developer. I don’t want to do manual work as it is annoying and highly error-prone. I invest time up-front to automate my workflow, so I can focus on the stuff that is actually valuable.
Design By Doing: I am a hands-on developer. I prefer to just get started over having hours upon hours of up-front design sessions. I want to try it out, and see what works. I will make mistakes, but I will learn from them. A little whiteboarding is a lot of fun though.
Learn By Teaching: I love sharing knowledge, and I love learning new things. Teaching things to others is a great way to learn them yourself. I try to do this as much as possible, both in my professional and personal life.

Strengths

I am highly creative and energetic: I can come up with a lot of ideas, and I can work on them for a long time without getting tired.
I am a fast learner: I can pick up new skills and technologies very quickly, and I can apply them in practice.

Weaknesses

I am easily distracted: I can get distracted by new ideas, and I can get bored by repetitive tasks (that I can’t automate).
I need constant challenge: I need to be constantly challenged in my work, otherwise I will get bored and quickly lose motivation.

Ideal Working Environment

If we are creating a garden from a wasteland, I’m the one to get all the rocks, fallen trees, and other debris out of the way. I will clear the space so that we can start making something beautiful, but I can get a little distracted as soon as there are no heavy things left to move.

My ideal working environment is one where I have complete freedom within a well-defined scope. I can work incredibly fast as long as there are no obstacles in my way. Supporting me in my work means removing these obstacles, and making sure that I can focus on the things that I’m good at. Processes and procedures are important, but they should be as lightweight as possible and not get in the way of the actual work.

I work best in small teams of highly capable and motivated people. Ideally there is someone in my team who is a bit more structured and process-oriented than I am, so that I can focus on the creative and technical aspects of the work, and they can help me keep on the right track. I like to work in teams where everyone is able to take initiative, and where everyone is able to take on different roles depending on the situation.