There's a phrase I keep repeating to myself:
Mob programming is a positive way of caring about work over credit. There we are all mutually credited for what comes out. But on the other hand, it is hard that you know something would not be what it is without you, and the likelihood of anyone recognizing your contribution in particular is low.
At TestBash Australia, we had a hallway conversation about holding on to credit you deserve, and I shared a strategy I personally resolve into when I feel my credit is unfairly assigned elsewhere: extensive positivity of the results, owning the results back through marketing them. People remember who told them the good news.
As a manager in my team, I've now tried going out of my comfort zone on sharing praise in public. With two attempts at it, I am frustrated on feeling corrected. I'm very deliberate on what I choose to say, who I acknowledge and when. I pay a lot of attention to the dynamics of the teams, and see the people who are not seen, generally speaking. What I choose to say is intentional, but also what I choose to not say is intentional.
This time, I chose not to acknowledge great work of an individual developer when getting a component out was very clearly team work. I remember a meeting I invited together 5 weeks ago to guide scope of the release to smaller, with success of "that is ready, tomorrow". I remember facilitating the dedicated tester designing scope of testing to share that there were weeks worth of testing after that "ready". I remember how nothing worked while "ready", and the great work from the tester in identifying what needed attention, and the strong-headedness of not accepting bad explanations for real experiences. I remember another developer from the side guiding the first developer into creating analytics that would help us continue testing in production. I remember dragging 3rd parties into the discussion, and facilitating things for better understanding amongst many many stakeholders. It took a village, and the village had fun doing it. I would not thank one for the work of the village.
Just a few hours later, I was feeling joy as one of the things I did acknowledge specifically was unfolding into wider knowledge in a discussion. I had tried getting a particular type of test from where it belonged, and failed, and made space for it to be created in my team. The test developer did a brilliant job implementing it and deserved the praise. Simultaneously, I felt the twitch of lack of my praise on finding the way in an organization that was fighting back on doing the right thing, and refusing feedback.
I can, in the background, remember to pat myself on the back, and acknowledge that great things happen because I facilitate uncomfortable discussions and practical steps forward. Testing is a great way of doing that. But all too often, it is also a great way of keeping yourself in the shadows, assigning praise where it wouldn't be without you.
Assigning credit is hard. We need to learn to appreciate the whole village.
Best ideas win when you care about work over credit.A lot of times, if you care to be attributed for the work you are doing, the strategies of getting the best ideas out there, implemented, are evading. If you don't mind other people taking credit for your ideas (and work), you make a lot more progress.
Mob programming is a positive way of caring about work over credit. There we are all mutually credited for what comes out. But on the other hand, it is hard that you know something would not be what it is without you, and the likelihood of anyone recognizing your contribution in particular is low.
At TestBash Australia, we had a hallway conversation about holding on to credit you deserve, and I shared a strategy I personally resolve into when I feel my credit is unfairly assigned elsewhere: extensive positivity of the results, owning the results back through marketing them. People remember who told them the good news.
As a manager in my team, I've now tried going out of my comfort zone on sharing praise in public. With two attempts at it, I am frustrated on feeling corrected. I'm very deliberate on what I choose to say, who I acknowledge and when. I pay a lot of attention to the dynamics of the teams, and see the people who are not seen, generally speaking. What I choose to say is intentional, but also what I choose to not say is intentional.
This time, I chose not to acknowledge great work of an individual developer when getting a component out was very clearly team work. I remember a meeting I invited together 5 weeks ago to guide scope of the release to smaller, with success of "that is ready, tomorrow". I remember facilitating the dedicated tester designing scope of testing to share that there were weeks worth of testing after that "ready". I remember how nothing worked while "ready", and the great work from the tester in identifying what needed attention, and the strong-headedness of not accepting bad explanations for real experiences. I remember another developer from the side guiding the first developer into creating analytics that would help us continue testing in production. I remember dragging 3rd parties into the discussion, and facilitating things for better understanding amongst many many stakeholders. It took a village, and the village had fun doing it. I would not thank one for the work of the village.
Just a few hours later, I was feeling joy as one of the things I did acknowledge specifically was unfolding into wider knowledge in a discussion. I had tried getting a particular type of test from where it belonged, and failed, and made space for it to be created in my team. The test developer did a brilliant job implementing it and deserved the praise. Simultaneously, I felt the twitch of lack of my praise on finding the way in an organization that was fighting back on doing the right thing, and refusing feedback.
I can, in the background, remember to pat myself on the back, and acknowledge that great things happen because I facilitate uncomfortable discussions and practical steps forward. Testing is a great way of doing that. But all too often, it is also a great way of keeping yourself in the shadows, assigning praise where it wouldn't be without you.
Assigning credit is hard. We need to learn to appreciate the whole village.
