README for Jason Block

My name is Jason Block. My pronouns are he/him/his. I don’t think there is a lot of meaning to my name; Jason was just one of the most popular boys names when I was born. My middle name is Maxwell, after my dad’s father Max, so there’s something a little more personal there.

At Cadence OneFive, my role is…

Principal Mechanical Engineer

Who am I? Non-work

The majority of my time outside of work is spent with my family. My wife Keri and I met on craigslist back before online dating was such a common thing, and we have two amazing kids: Sullivan (10) and Willa (almost 6). We adopted two COVID kitties, who are usually sweet, but still have plenty of energy to wreak havoc around the house.

I enjoy cooking meals for the family. I’m trying to listen to more new music while I’m doing various household tasks. If not music, then a podcast. I hope to find time to pick up piano or the guitar again; it’s been ages. I love reading, and I try to vary things between non-fiction, which can sometimes feel a little too close to work, but maybe that’s on me, and fiction. And I like games. We’re always on the look for new games we can play together as a family–something simple enough that we can all play, but interesting enough to keep the grownups involved.

Work

I took a bit of a detour to engineering as a career. I grew frustrated with my classes in school–too many problem sets and concepts focused on doing research in a lab, but very little that was tangible. So I went into theatre, which had been my main activity outside of class–backstage stuff, like sets, lighting, and sound. After working for a couple of years in the NYC theatre world, I had little money, no health insurance, and had learned that a lot of shows that get produced are just not that good.

I switched to corporate events, which was a fairly smooth transition, but in hindsight, was not the right direction at all. Sure it came with better pay and benefits, but even the worst play is better than most of the events I worked on (one of which was a Newscorp holiday party 🤮).

I refocused on sustainability (which had always been in the back of my mind) and now actually get to use some of the engineering I learned in school. Although to be honest, most of it was learned on the job.

I like to know the details of things I’m working on, especially when they are new to me. I read reports, including the appendices, and instruction manuals to know what’s required to make a project successful. And I like to look for patterns and commonalities, and am excited to explore those more here at C1.5.

I think I’m good at understanding multiple sides of things and communicating technical information in an accessible way to different audiences.

Goals Learning goals

Better understanding the climate justice aspect of our work, including meaningfully engaging with the many different actors that will have parts to play in decarbonization. I used to think if I knew the best technical solution, it would be enough. I guess not.

Better understanding of data querying, manipulating, and interpreting. I have some rudimentary Excel skills, but that’s not going to cut it anymore.

Greater attention to respecting people’s time. One of the most common examples of this I want to work on is being more thoughtful and prepared for meetings.

You can lean on me to

  • Explain things sufficiently (and hopefully not overexplain)

  • Listen patiently and help provide a different perspective or approach

  • Review and provide feedback on work products (be it writing, visual, etc.)

How to support me as we work together

In my previous role my days were over scheduled, which may have damaged my sense of focus and independence. I will happily take any suggestions about time management.

I will also likely need support learning some of the new software and tools, and I appreciate everyone’s patience as I become more familiar with them.

I could use a better sense of when to say no to things. A lot of things sound interesting to me, so I often want to take on too much. But I’ve been learning that’s not sustainable, nor does it provide good or timely results.

How to support me as a person

There will be times when I need to be unavailable to take care of my kids. Come school time, that’ll usually mean at least one afternoon I’m offline. And I try to stop working around 5pm most days to help transition our family into from school/work mode into dinner, although I may check back in later on in the evening, especially if I know something is pending.

I’m thinking about ways to accommodate some kind of break within my working hours. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’ll keep my calendar updated.

I am allergic to gluten (and a few other things). If/when we meet in person, it’s likely that will involve some amount of food (it seems many in-person activities do), and I’d appreciate being in the loop on any food planning.

Ways of working together

I know we’re working on serious things, but I do like interjecting some humor into things.

I took a StrengthsFinder assessment a couple of years ago, and my top five strengths were/are:

  1. Learner

  2. Relator

  3. Harmony

  4. Input

  5. Discipline

They ring true to me.

Teamwork preferences

I sometimes take a while to warm up to new people (I’m definitely more of an introvert), but I can develop close relationships over time.

I’m getting to enjoy this asynchronous way of working, but I am also very happy to hop on a quick call or meeting if it’s helpful. Some things may go better in real time, like brainstorming.

Feedback preferences

Feedback can come in many ways. I’ve been working on giving feedback to others as soon as possible (sometimes in the moment, but just as often after I’ve had time to process and think through the most appropriate framing). I’d like that to go both ways.