ManagementandTrust

I'm going on an around-the-world trip in a couple of weeks. I'll be away for three weeks. In our AYE planning phone call last night, I said that I would be asking for help, and I would know in a week or so what kind of help I would ask for. Jerry noticed that I'd become more "P" (Perceiving in Meyers Briggs terms). Maybe :-) I think that I know I don't need to plan too far in advance because I trust my coworkers. I know that if I ask any of Esther, Don, Steve, Jerry, or Dave, that they wil help me, or we'll all figure out a way to make sure my work doesn't fall through the cracks. That trust means I don't need to plan too far in advance. Yes, let people know, but not plan to the smallest detail.

Contrast my trust with a blog entry I made yesterday about a boss reading someone's email, http://www.jrothman.com/weblog/archive/2005_02_01_mpdarchive.html#110917309009869307. Sure I know corporate email is the property of the organization, but if your boss has to resort to reading your email to see if/how you're working, there's no trust.

When have you been in situations with little or no trust? When have you been in situations with enormous trust? How does that change how you've worked? -- JohannaRothman 2005.02.24

Johanna, you've asked for extremes, but I'll offer something more common. As a tester, I've had many managers lock onto a single method for accomplishing a broad end. I suspect it is due to fear, but I don't know for sure. As a result, communication about how to make things better became stilted at best, nonexistent at worst. That difficulty not infrequently overflowed into other communication, so that what was talked about in public bore no relation to reality. The lesson? Even simple distrust spreads.

As a project lead, I have been that manager. In my case, the lock-on was due to fear that I would lose control. The fantasy world that resulted made it far more difficult to get anything done. I've worked with the problem for some time focusing on my people skills (very hard for this strong I). Two years ago at AYE, I locked onto "One option is a trap, two options are a dilemma, three options is a choice," with both hands. I use that catch phrase to shake me out of single method lock on. I attempt to generate options before I make any choice and keep them in mind while pursuing the path chosen. Discovery and exposure to the Context Driven Approach to Software Testing has helped reinforce that. The Context Driven School has given professional life to Satir's ideas on Congruence for me. All of these tools help me step out of the fear generated by a distrust in myself.

Have I solved the problem completely? Not yet. Then again, as a person motivated mainly by learning, what would be the fun in being perfect?

MikeMelendez 2005.02.24

Mike, can you think of 2 other methods besides remembering the catch phrase that might help you in this effort? (grin, duck, run) --DaveLiebreich 2005.02.24

No need to duck. The catch phrase isn't a method, just a reminder that I need more than one method in mind. I studied languages in a previous life, so I pay abnormal attention to phrases that are used. In the software field, e.g., the phrase, "You're correct." is used more frequently than the equivalent "I agree with you." I listen to my own speech quite a bit, I attempt to convert it when I can. That also helps. -- MikeMelendez 2005.02.25

Updated: Friday, February 25, 2005