Washington, D.C. Area

Chris Fries

I work on computers at a nonprofit. I get to do it all — help desk to data analytics, team building to vendor management — and I love it. The work is never boring, always challenging, and lets me solve problems that help people be more effective.

What I Believe

Enable, Then Get Out of the Way

Hire good people, give them what they need, and let them work. Micromanagement is a failure of planning.

Iterate, Don't Perfect

Ship something, learn from it, improve. Waiting for perfect means waiting forever. The best solutions evolve through feedback, not planning.

Solve Problems, Stay Curious

From DNS deep-dives to home automation — understanding how things work and explaining them to others is the fun part.

Small Teams, Big Leverage

Constraints force creativity. A lean team that trusts each other will outperform a bloated one every time.

Stay Hands-On

Titles change, but there's value in staying in the weeds sometimes. You can't lead what you don't understand.

Grow People, Not Headcount

Find people with aptitude and invest in them. Even if they leave, it's a win if they're advancing the mission somewhere.