I believe that, throughout life, one accrues a toolkit of styles and methodologies which serves to streamline the way in which one approaches different tasks. These are some of my personal principles which shape the way that I work on a daily basis, both in and out of the office:

• Kindness beats aptitude.

• Fix the problem you've got, not the one you think you ought to have.

• Don't add more words if they don't add more meaning.

• Something that's working but slow is better than something that's broken but fast.

• The best code you write is the code you don't write.

• Don't ignore failing tests.

• If you can't fix something, can you make it break in a different way?

• Understand the problem. Don't guess.

• Work methodically - don't start on another problem until you've fixed the first.

• Be humble and stay curious.