Context: I think it is about some meta-thought I have.
There are times when I feel hopeless. and this happens to me whether it is about programming, testing, management, agility….
Maybe I’m wrong, but there are times when fragments of situations/thoughts/experiences show me quite clearly what is coming. And I can’t do anything to correct it even though what I want to do is very coherent with my thoughts, experience, and theories.
Thought:
I suppose each of us can have his/her own take on this.
My take, that never disappointed me till now, is that it helps to prepare myself mentally and emotionally for the bad things – that’s it, but not to solve them however.
No one told me this when I started. I thought that by knowing things will be enough to apply the solutions, but it is not like this at all.
You might say that with the experience applied solutions might come. But it is not quite like this. Because, it seems to me, Weinberg was right by saying that the definition of “quality” is always political, emotional and relative.(*) And I feel it so strongly.
It is very hard to combat a dominant position, usually a win will happen when a crisis comes, when the bubble will burst.
At a very, very distant moment maybe is applying what is known to be ok in that situation, but in the background, so that the situation/project will not tear apart. Of course, it will never be known because two things usually happen in parallel: showing agreement with what and how it is wanted/fabulated and on the other hand making the things actually work. Of course, the dominant view will succeed, as always, and it will not be known that those informal things/work/connections happened in order to make it work in that situation.
(*) ‘Agile and the Definition of Quality’, Gerald Weinberg, https://secretsofconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/09/agile-and-definition-of-quality.html