A blueprint brought to life
Some books don’t just hold up—they foreshadow what’s possible. Making Things Special: Tech Leadership from the Trenches, co-authored by Hillel Cooperman and Jenny Lam, reads today like a blueprint for what they’ve since built at Oracle. The book is over a decade old, but its themes—product taste, principled leadership, and the delicate balance between credibility of vision and credibility of execution—still feel incredibly current.
“Credibility of vision is earned by painting a compelling picture of what could be. Credibility of execution is earned by delivering repeatedly on what already is.”
— Making Things Special
Watching those principles come to life at Oracle has been one of the most meaningful parts of my time here.
Complementary leadership, shared standards
Hillel and Jenny lead differently, but with perfect complement. Hillel challenges us to think more boldly and more humanely—his eccentricity keeps things honest, and he has an uncanny ability to spot the seams in any experience. Jenny brings clarity and discipline to everything she touches. She’s calm, focused, and uncompromising when it comes to craft. Together, they’ve raised the bar—not just on what we build, but how we think about what’s worth building.
Raising the bar at scale
When I joined Oracle Food & Beverage, I knew I’d be working on complex, functional enterprise software—often powerful, but not always known for its charm. I didn’t expect our mission to center on making it feel so thoughtful. So considered. So human. We weren’t just encouraged to aim higher—we were expected to.
That shift matters.
It shows up in the way we handle edge cases and error states. In how we build with Redwood—not just to check a box, but to bring a sense of cohesion and care to everything we ship. In how our team pauses to celebrate moments of restraint, not just scope.
Leading with humanity
And it shows up in the way Hillel and Jenny talk about users. Always as people first. Always with humility.
Their influence has helped us move beyond just solving problems. We’re designing with intention. We’re pushing for moments of clarity, even joy. We’re building things that work—and trying to make them matter.
“You can’t fake special. And you can’t retrofit it.”
— Making Things Special
The kind of leadership that makes you better
It’s not always clean. It’s not always fast. And it’s definitely not always easy. There are messy critiques, stubborn tradeoffs, and weeks where the path forward feels anything but clear. But it’s also what makes the work real—and worth doing. The kind of leadership that makes you better.
And that, to me, is what making things special really looks like.
