FutuStories - Meet Daniel Reed, Software Developer

What does your role at Futurice involve and how long have you been here?

I’m a software developer and I’ve been doing it for four years now. The role essentially involves getting to know our clients’ problems and using my expertise to come up with and produce a solution, which might be a code change, a web app or a new way of working. Doing research, using new techniques and technologies and communicating with my team and the client are all important aspects of resolving these challenges in the best possible way.

What gets you up in the morning?

My excitement and curiosity – wondering, “what challenges am I going to solve today, and how?” – I really enjoy being challenged in my job, and that attracted me to Futurice. I like change, but in the past I was working for product-based companies where we always did the same thing, so I wanted to work in a consultancy where I could do something different every day.

What do you enjoy about your work?

As I like change, it’s also nice that there’s always something new on the horizon. Some other aspects of working here that I love are things that help me grow, like the encouragement to take responsibility for my own learning and career path and working in a team with passionate, talented people who encourage and challenge me. And finally, because I really enjoy building things like web apps, I love showing off what I’ve worked on – whether to clients, colleagues or even friends and family when we launch something big.

What’s the most underrated object at the office?

We moved into this office recently, and I love the aesthetic and vibe here. It’s in the roof of an old building with exposed wooden beams, and I‘m a total sucker for that kind of thing. They look amazing and give the place a lovely energy when compared with a standard corporate office – so the most underrated thing here is the beams!

What are people often doing wrong in this field in your opinion?

In dev work there’s too much focus on tech stacks as a buzzword rather than core skills, lifelong learning or even soft skills. This creates a tribal mentality where if you don’t know specific technologies, you’re considered an outsider and not as smart as the people who do. Anyone can learn a technology with time – and they come and go with time too – but being curious, asking questions and having the ability to learn is what really matters. Breaking down this gatekeeper attitude in tech is important for me.

What should be said out loud more often?

“Done is better than perfect” is a mantra I like – it’s tempting to wait until something’s perfect, but getting it online and gathering feedback to fix the last 10% often leads to a better product.

What is something about you that you think would surprise people?

On the day of the Brexit vote a few years ago, I was on the Swedish news after they found my old blog. It had started off as a blog about me moving here and then turned into a website with expat information and resources, including a few articles about how Brexit would affect Brits in Sweden. That day I got a call, and suddenly I was being interviewed on TV as some sort of expert! It was terrifying because I felt like I was supposed to know a lot about politics and represent the views of all British expats living in Sweden. They had headlines running under my image on the screen – the worst one being that I told them that Boris Johnson would never be prime minister!

What’s your biggest dream for the future?

I have two – my long-term retirement dream is to have a small farm with a couple of dogs and some sheep and horses. My girlfriend and I were inspired by Jeremy Clarkson’s new series Clarkson’s farm and its Swedish equivalent, Hjälp, vi har köpt en bondgård! (Help, we’ve bought a farm!), and I feel it could be really relaxing and rewarding to do that on a small scale. In the short term, I got into cycling during the pandemic and I’d love to go on a cycling adventure, say from the north of Sweden to the south, or perhaps from Stockholm to Newcastle.

Interested in reading more stories about us and our people? At Futurice, we celebrate diversity and cherish everyone's unique journey. Check out our Welcome Home page and get inspired by more journeys shaping our culture. If you would like to read more stories and get to know our people, our sites and the community better, check out the global version of our FutuStories Booklet.