Wandering Thoughts and Self-Reflection

Joel Tosi — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 20:24:05 -0600

I was sitting in a technology conference session recently and, rather quickly, started focusing more on the presenter than the content (perhaps because the content was less than stellar). Either way, this started me thinking how much easier it is to find faults than fix our own.

This may seem obvious, but just think about it – even in positions of inferiority (in a session to learn or discovering how to create a product) – it is more natural for us to find faults in others or a process than actively work on resolving our own or helping others to improve.

I see this most commonly with teams that are looking to create more collaborative environments – the transparency to some becomes quite scary. And so they lash out. Developers will attack testers - ‘Their job is to find bugs.’ ‘They don’t automate enough.’ Business sponsors will question development motives - ‘They just pad their estimates so I know its not real.’

When I work with teams where I see this, I try and stress getting people talking and understanding each other on a personal level. From there, I stress simple, obvious facts – no one is here trying to sabotage a project everyone is trying to contribute as much as they can. If we can start from that common understanding, and honestly believe it, then we are taking the first step towards creating an environment that is high with personal safety as well as honest, constructive feedback. Without that as a basis, any gains we make as a team will be on fragile ground.

Quite often, the role of a coach feels like a counselor or a psychiatrist – and part of it really is. Our job, as leaders is to foster an environment were people can become more not only become team reflective, but also honestly self-reflective.

Who wants to be an Evangelist

Joel Tosi — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:07:59 -0500

I consider myself lucky to have a varying group of individuals that I have met over the years with whom I can speak rather frankly about products - not just delivery but discovery. I have seen an interesting pattern evolving - people want evangelists. Gone are the days where it was enough to be a solid developer, great requirements writer, or an effective manager. The times - they are a changing - and that is a really good thing.

I was speaking with a colleague a few weeks back who was working on somewhat of a startup and was using outsourced development. He asked me a seemingly loaded question - 'How come the developers only care about me telling them exactly what I want, then they hide off and come back with something I don't need?' 'Well,' I responded, 'you are working with the wrong developers.' By nature, the outsourced model is designed to remove any collaboration and focus strictly on savings based upon contractual obligations. Perhaps a better name would be 'sunkcosting'.

The above scenario isn't limited to just outsourced development or startups. I see this scenario wherever there is a separation of delivery team from product - whether it be created by the company or by the individuals.

Take this as another example - a buddy of mine works at a pretty hip, larger 'entertainment' software company. He calls me up one morning fuming. 'Joel, all the developers cared about was getting home. The launch was busted and they just said they would fix it Monday. WTF?'

The above scenario has other issues - finding out a launch is broke when you roll it out probably has a root cause further down the stack - but the sentiments are still the same. People on that product team weren't passionate about the product. Had they been, there is no way that they would have left their product to rot and aggravate customers until someone rolls out of bed to look at it. More than likely, with a passionate and engaged team, the product either wouldn't have rolled out or the problems would have been flushed out sooner simply by the team banging so much on the product they are creating.

What can should you do about this? Simple - be excited about something and work on it. There are two types of people at work - those that are excited and want to do make something better; those that are complacent and would rather not be bothered. Be excited and passionate, it is far more rewarding. If you are on the hiring side - look for people with passion and drive. Skills can easily be taught, complacency is something that will cost you ten-fold to try and remove.

Short feedback loops are not only great for the quality of a product, but they are also great for looking at the dynamics of a team. Use your team to its fullest - get everyone engaged with the product. Make them evangelists.

Communal Osmosis

Wandering Thoughts and Self-Reflection

Who wants to be an Evangelist