For readers who know me only from my novel and other writing, there’s another side of my life: I run an information technology firm that helps multibillion-dollar organizations create better software.

If you’ve ever fought with a website that wouldn’t work or a mobile app that made you want to hurl your phone across the

From the deck of our oceanfront rental, I watched my boys play in the sand. “Play” may be the wrong word. It looked more like work to me. Shovels and elbows moving in...