I came this close to writing another post about testing. Instead, for now, at least, I’ll just point out that almost all of what I wrote in The A Word is still true. On a side note, I’m a little bummed to see that leanpub now charges a subscription in order to download a book I intended to be free. I’m all for leanpub making some bank - it’s a tough business, but I’m also happy to share a link to a pdf of the book if you want it.
Those of you who find my posts on linked in vs. your inbox probably have heard that I changed jobs recently. I found what I think is going to be a fun (and by fun, I mean really hard) role working with some good people to solve problems that think I know how to solve.
Side Note Number Two…
I left Microsoft over six years ago. In that time, the only Microsoft apps I’ve used are Visual Studio Code, and my Xbox. I’m back at a Microsoft shop and I’m quickly remembering why I didn’t miss any of the apps. The office apps in general feel cluttered (I’m a simple person with simple preferences). Outlook for Mac is…well, it’s removed. My super-hot tip is to use the web based outlook and change the shortcuts (in Accessibility settings) to model gmail. Teams is better than it was six years ago, but has been, in my short experience, a bit unreliable - but actually not horrible. One bit of kudos for Teams, is that the red “Leave this meeting” button actually leaves the meeting vs. the annoying confirmation that Zoom gives.
Problems Don’t Solve Themselves
Last week I touched on personality types, and on the Lencioni Working Genius model that says (accurately) that I’m good at Discernment and Galvanizing. I like asking questions, and I’m not afraid to ask potentially dumb questions. There’s a great story from Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman, where Feynman is telling a story about reviewing some blueprints (Feynman was a physicist).
I want to ask them what it is. You must have been in a situation like this when you didn’t ask them right away. Right away it would have been OK. But now they’ve been talking a little bit too long. You hesitated too long. If you ask them now they’ll say “What are you wasting my time all this time for?” What am I going to do? I get an idea. Maybe it’s a valve. I take my finger and I put it down on one of the mysterious little crosses in the middle of one of the blueprints on page three, and I say “What happens if this valve gets stuck?” — figuring they’re going to say “That’s not a valve, sir, that’s a window.”
We’ve all been there, right. We’re not sure if we should ask the question, but we really should. What’s the worst that can happen? The story continues.
So one looks at the other and says, “Well, if that valve get stuck—” and he goes up and down on the blueprint, up and down, the other guy goes up and down, back and forth, back and forth, and they both look at each other. They turn around to me and they open their mouths like astonished fish and say, “You’re absolutely right, sir.”
I have a similar story from my time working on Teams (my role there spanned all kinds of things, including playing the role of pseudo-release manager). I forget the details, but I saw a change go in that intrigued me. I took a look at the pull request, and after staring at the code changes for twenty minutes, I wasn’t able to figure out how it actually worked. I get confused by “clever” code a lot, and Teams was written (at that time, at least) in Angular, so I was confused a lot. But, I was curious, so I dropped a note the the developer who checked in the code, and said something like, “Hi, I saw checkin XXXX, and I’m not quite sure how it works. Do you have a few minutes this week to walk me through it and explain?”
An hour later, I got a reply. “You’re right, this isn’t going to work. I’m going to revert it now”. Ummm ok?!?
The Other Side - Listening
I happen to enjoy asking questions, and I’ve asked enough dumb questions in my life by now that I’m numb to the embarrassment of appearing dumb. It’s much harder for a lot of other people. It requires a safe environment where asking questions of any type is expected and normalized. Equally as important, t requires leaders who actually listen with the goal of understanding where the questions are coming from, and with the courage to address difficult issues and change directions when needed.
Humans want to be a part of something. We want to belong. We want to feel heard and understood. It’s critical that leaders understand that treating people like they belong is a far better path to engagement and productivity than a command and control system driven entirely by doling out tasks in a vacuum. On the other hand numerous studies show that the cost of poor listening results in decreased productivity, job dissatisfaction, low commitment, burnout, or most likely - just finding a new role.
In my experience, the willingness to ask questions, even if they may seem dumb, can lead to valuable insights and solutions that may have otherwise been missed. But more importantly, leaders need to create a safe and inclusive environment where asking questions and debating is ideas is normalized and encouraged in order to foster more engagement, productivity, and job satisfaction among their teams.
Of course, if you're looking to improve your own questioning and listening skills from people far smarter than me, some recommended books on the subject include The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer (who is amazing at everything she does), Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson et al, and Just Listen by Mark Goulston. All of these books have been helpful for me in improving the way I listen and learn from others. We live in a world packed full of information, and the ability to ask the right questions and listen actively can be a super power.
-Alan
For what it's worth, you can disable the confirmation in Zoom when leaving a meeting.
This, I think, will help me figure some stuff out at work. Especially the part about listening.