Tomas Malmsten

I’ve been doing software for more than 25 years and I still enjoy it. Perhaps, over time, I’ve found that technical aspects are less motivating in them self, instead solving them together is what motivates me. Working with a team where people feel they belong and can be themselves, regardless of background, seniority, or other things that sometimes seems to differentiate us. All these differences bring better insight for the group, make us become more than the sum of the parts. Seeing such teams and the people flourish, nurture it, makes work fun and rewarding.

So far, I’ve been most successful at doing this when being part of the team. As engineer, architect, tech lead, coach, or in some other role. And I’d like to keep that. Moving into management doesn’t really appeal to me. However, working with good managers makes it so much easier and more fun.

I like to understand what we are doing. Which direction we are going in and why. What small parts makes up the whole. How does everything interact and what are the consequences of those interactions. How can we make small changes, continuously, to make the whole move in the direction we want to go. Both with the technology we create and in the social fabric of the team and organisation.

Outside of work I draw and paint and grow things. Food, plants, soil. Again, with gardening, like with software and teams, it’s about understanding the whole. I don’t really grow food, I nudge nature to hopefully grow what I’ve planted with enough abundance for me to eat from it. It’s not easy, there’s a lot of thing I don’t know yet. About soil, fungi, seeds, pests, and plants. But it is exciting to learn.

I live in Malmö, but prefer to work in Copenhagen. If you want to talk to me about any of the above, feel free to reach out. You will find my channels in the footer.