Comments on: Reclaim Your Personal Method

By: Pamela Wagner

Pamela Wagner — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:30:37 +0000

As a ‘follower’ of yours, I must say I agree with you. In my experience with teaching and learning, no matter what the skill, you must make it your own before it can be applied effectively.
Unfortunately, as someone with a boss and corporate standards (never mind the merits or de-merits of that concept), I am sometimes forced to follow a method I don’t agree with and don’t support. I have difficulty getting said bosses to give me enough flexibility to let me be effective. I manage to get by through a balance of playing the game when I have to and hoping I don’t get caught the rest of the time. Luckily I’m good at what I do, which buys me the occasional blind eye.

Do you have any advice for those of us who are trying to break free from dictated methods? I know there aren’t any magic words, but anything you can suggest would be appreciated.

[James' Reply: First, if you are forced to play along with an idea you don't understand or support, at least don't take it seriously within yourself. They can rent your mind and support, but don't sell your truth.

Second, consider it an opportunity to gain wonderful learning experience-- perhaps experience in something that runs badly, but that's educational, too.

Third, make sure you are on record with your boss and co-workers as either not understanding or not agreeing with the method you are being asked to use. This can be done gently (I don't usually do it gently, though I've seen it done that way!), but it must be done. Otherwise you may give the impression that your independent judgment concurs with theirs, and may well continue with a course of action they might have doubted if they knew that you doubted it, too. Hence we get the "110,000 certified testers can't be wrong" argument, as if all, or indeed more than a handful of those testers actually independently analyzed and approved of the program.

It's okay to try a method that you don't understand or agree to. Consider that an experiment. But make sure that you call it an experiment and not "a better process."]

By: Jeroen Rosink

Jeroen Rosink — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:47:32 +0000

Hello James,
With this post you describe in which state of mind I’m into over the last months. It feels like being in a kind of testing twilight zone. I already admit that the methods I have learned aren’t that good methods to start with, like Tmap, ISTQB, TPI etc. I have found the approach of CDT one of which I have the feeling the represent who I want to be. The part is: I’m not able yet to make it my own. In short: I’m in the middle of methods which gives me a bad feeling and still triggering me to continue.

Postings like this helping me to re-think and re-judge my thoughts

thanks for this
regards,
Jeroen

By: Simon Morley

Simon Morley — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:18:40 +0000

I don’t get methods and ideas thrust upon me so much these days - but when I did and I either wanted time to think them through (analyse) or even disagree my way of “reclaiming my personal method” was to say:-

“Yes, that is ONE way of doing it but not the only way, there is also x, y & z - with pros & cons such as…”

Some people would get infuriated that their idea wasn’t going to go into mass-adoption (more their problem than mine) - not realising that a group of different perspectives on the approach would usually transform the method into a consensus approach.

[James' Reply: Good response!]