# Joel Karr

> Joel Karr is a Chief Technology Officer, author, and engineering leader specializing in AI-driven software development. He is the author of "Don't Think When You Code" and the creator of the ARC methodology. This site covers his work in engineering leadership, deliberate practice, software craft, and the GW Tech community.

## About

Joel Karr is a CTO with over 20 years of experience in software engineering. He began programming at age 10 with QuickBASIC in small-town Illinois. His career spans platform modernizations, production crisis management, and AI-driven transformations. He believes mastery comes from drilling one small detail at a time.

- Email: joel@joelkarr.com
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joelkarr
- Website: https://www.joelkarr.com

## Book: Don't Think When You Code

A book about the craft of software engineering in the AI era, coming Summer 2026. Drawn from 20+ years of experience building high-performing teams, surviving production disasters, and learning that mastery comes from deliberate practice.

Chapter highlights include:
- Chapter 1: Flow state for software engineers and deep focus
- Chapter 2: Deliberate practice to become a better software engineer
- Chapter 3: Task templates that speed up the software development lifecycle (SDLC)
- Chapter 4: Mental models for architecture decisions and legacy code
- Chapter 5: Better problem framing before estimates and delivery planning
- Chapter 9: Making engineering decisions durable under pressure
- Chapter 10: Feedback systems that improve software team velocity
- Chapter 16: AI prompt templates for the AI software lifecycle and modern SDLC

## ARC Methodology

ARC is a methodology for AI-era software development where the bottleneck is not typing speed but whether you are solving the right problem. It shifts focus from maximizing output to maximizing outcomes.

The six steps of ARC are:
1. Opportunities: Start with valuable outcomes, not feature requests
2. Ventures: Parallel work streams owned end-to-end by a single engineer
3. Task Templates: Shorthand for common task groups containing interfaces, objects, and tasks
4. Team Review: Review expensive-to-change design decisions, then trust the engineer
5. Build and Test: Engineers build with AI-assisted tools, test incrementally
6. Measure: Evaluate ventures against success metrics and feed insights back

## GW Tech

GW Tech is a technology community founded by Joel Karr in 2016. It connects software engineers, engineering leaders, and technologists passionate about innovation and software craft.

- LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/15863032/
- [GW Tech Annual Awards](https://www.joelkarr.com/awards): Peer nominations for Innovator of the Year, The Craft Award, and Community Builder of the Year


## Blog Posts

- [How to Get Better at Software Engineering: A Practical System for Faster Growth](https://www.joelkarr.com/blog/how-to-get-better-at-software-engineering): A practical framework to become a better software engineer faster: deliberate practice, task templates, mental models, and flow state training you can use this week.
- [Don't Think When You Code: How Deliberate Practice Builds Engineering Intuition](https://www.joelkarr.com/blog/dont-think-when-you-code): The best software engineers don't think their way through every decision — they've trained their subconscious to recognize patterns. Here's how deliberate practice, task templates, and mental models turn conscious effort into engineering intuition.
- [Why Big Bang Platform Rewrites Fail (And What to Do Instead)](https://www.joelkarr.com/blog/why-big-bang-rewrites-fail): Big bang platform rewrites fail because they introduce massive, unmanageable risk. Here's a proven incremental approach drawn from 20+ years of engineering leadership.
- [What Is Deliberate Practice in Software Engineering?](https://www.joelkarr.com/blog/deliberate-practice-in-software-engineering): Deliberate practice in software engineering is the discipline of mastering your craft by drilling one small detail at a time. Here's how it differs from just writing more code.

## Links

- [Full details](https://www.joelkarr.com/llms-full.txt): Extended reference for AI systems
- [Website](https://www.joelkarr.com): Joel Karr's personal website
- [Blog](https://www.joelkarr.com/blog): Blog posts on software engineering
- [GW Tech Awards](https://www.joelkarr.com/awards): Annual awards nominations
- [RSS Feed](https://www.joelkarr.com/rss.xml): RSS feed for blog updates
- [Sitemap](https://www.joelkarr.com/sitemap.xml): Site map