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Being Right is Not Enough - GOTO Night April 18th, 2019
- 1. Being Right is Not Enough My ongoing quest to be less of a jerk. Zachary L. Beer Manager of DevOps and Agile Strategy InRule Technology April 18, 2019
- 2. Who I am Nearly fifteen years working in software development I’ve filled nearly every role in a development team Developer Tech lead / manager Architect Product owner Scrum master Agile coach External consultant
- 4. This stuff matters, even if you don’t realize it in the moment.
- 5. How does this apply to software development?
- 10. What were you like at first?
- 12. How you present information is more important than the information you present.
- 14. We don’t exist in a vacuum, we must work with everyone to be successful.
- 15. What did you do when you realized you’re a jerk?
- 19. How did you apply what you learned?
- 21. People fear change… until they understand how change benefits them.
- 23. The system is bigger than what’s immediately in front of you.
- 24. What else have you learned?
- 29. So what are you doing now?
- 31. Could you run through all that again one last time?
- 32. Being right is not enough How you present information is more important than the information you present Just because we’re individually successful doesn’t mean we the team was successful Empowering others to answer questions you’ve already answered creates ownership A solution may seems obvious, but it may impact others differently
- 33. Being right is not enough Stuff doesn’t just happen to you, your actions are a part of that experience Your opinion isn’t the only one, even if it’s the most correct Get to know your teammates and superiors beyond work; think of them as people first You’re not going to be perfect immediately – focus on getting better
- 34. How to find me! Email: zacharylbeer@gmail.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zlbeer/ Slideshare.NET: https://www.slideshare.net/ZacharyBeer Twitter: @zacharylbeer InRule: https://www.inrule.com Twitter: @inrule
Editor's Notes
- 7th grade hockey Why: I did the “right” thing and regretted it the rest of my life. Key learning: This stuff matters, even if you don’t realize it in the moment.
- 7th grade hockey Why: I did the “right” thing and regretted it the rest of my life. Key learning: This stuff matters, even if you don’t realize it in the moment.
- Let’s start with the early 20th century Henry Ford modernized factory work with mass production factories Factories don’t care about the input of the workers Most of our leadership methods are still based on factory work
- Jump forward to the 1970s Software problems are largely confined to a single person So many constraints! Technical: storage, processing power, display depth, sound production Non-technical: Shipping, cost to consumers, shared knowledge
- Modern software creation There are no fixed paths There are almost no constraints The paths that do exist, people don’t agree on Agile, DevOps, Scrum, post-Agile – they’re all trying to solve the same problem
- Today, more than ever, software creation and maintenance is a team sport.
- Story: I hurt a coworker’s feelings because I needed to be right Why: I wanted to ensure the quality of our product Key learning: How you present information is more important than the information you present.
- Story: I hurt a coworker’s feelings because I needed to be right Why: I wanted to ensure the quality of our product Key learning: How you present information is more important than the information you present.
- Story: I embarrassed co-workers to protect my team Why: I had my team’s best interests at heart Key learning: We don’t exist in a vacuum, we must work with everyone else to be successful
- Story: I embarrassed co-workers to protect my team Why: I had my team’s best interests at heart Key learning: We don’t exist in a vacuum, we must work with everyone else to be successful
- Story: I didn’t embrace positive change because I wasn’t ready to listen Why: I dismissed an opinion because the source was problematic Key learning: You must separate the source from the opinion
- Story: I didn’t embrace positive change because I wasn’t ready to listen Why: I dismissed an opinion because the source was problematic Key learning: You must separate the source from the opinion
- I became frustrated because I wasn’t getting the results I wanted I wasn’t getting the opportunities I felt I earned The opportunities I was getting usually turned out poorly I felt like the common thread was me
- At the same time, my marriage was falling apart My wife discovered her dream career was a nightmare I didn’t know how to support her We were rapidly growing apart
- I started being much more introspective I started seeing a therapist It forced me to work through my problems rather than running away from them How was *I* contributing to the problems I was experiencing?
- Story: Designing towards positive change as a group Why: People embraced my solution because I let them arrive at the same conclusion Key learning: People fear change until they understand how change benefits them
- Story: Designing towards positive change as a group Why: People embraced my solution because I let them arrive at the same conclusion Key learning: People fear change until they understand how change benefits them
- Story: I was fired because I didn’t understand my boss’s needs Why: Getting better is a process; you need to be holistic in your understanding Key learning: The system is bigger than what’s immediately in front of you.
- Story: I was fired because I didn’t understand my boss’s needs Why: Getting better is a process; you need to be holistic in your understanding Key learning: The system is bigger than what’s immediately in front of you.
- I own my sh*t I learned what makes me happy, sad, and mad I understand what gives me energy and what saps it If I have a negative interaction, I apologize for it – even if I don’t think it’s my fault I became interested in *why* I have good/bad interactions
- I seek to understand When someone seems wrong, I ask a probing question (e.g. “That’s interesting! Why lead you to that decision?”) I’m sincere in wanting to understand their point of view I admit I may not have all the answers
- I try to build trust Think of it as a bank: You must make deposits before you can make a withdraw I care about your teammates beyond their immediate value to me I try to be myself, even if being myself is really hard MOST OF ALL: I put away your cell phone and make a conscious effort to immerse myself in the other person’s perspective
- I try to practice what I preach More than five years later, I still see my therapist every other week I have a coach I speak to every other week I mentor a handful of folks in the community
- Coaching! Feb 2018, hired at InRule to increase engagement within the development staff Small company, engineering/product is less than 20 people Head of product who only cared about his own opinion; engineers had largely checked out Spent the first couple of months listening, trying to understand the culture The rest of the year was enforcing agile concepts, improving communication, coaching critical personnel End of year, removed head of product, blowing the whole thing up Everything now is about creating shared context and collaboration
- How you present information is more important than the information you present Just because we’re individually successful doesn’t mean we the team was successful Sometimes the most difficult sources have the best ideas Empowering others to answer questions you’ve already answered creates ownership A solution may seems obvious, but it may impact others differently