Why testing is hard, estimating impossible, and we all feel like frauds sometimes

Who am I?

I've failed

What are the

emotions

estimating brings up?

And testing?

Think of problems first as emotional, then technical

All code is compromise

What are emotions?

dispositional representations

Every emotion evolved to direct you to action that protects you from danger, or guides you to opportunity

All emotions have reasons

Your mind is a community

We're not great at:

  • noticing conflicting emotions
  • negotiating with parts
  • talking about emotions

Why notice conflicting emotions?

How to identify conflicting emotions?

connection

power

autonomy

challenge

safety

novelty

Why negotiate with parts?

How to negotiate with parts?

Give yourself time

Name parts and why they exist

Why talk about emotions?

What's wrong with avoiding conflict?

What's wrong with sticking to the facts?

More feelings

=

Long meetings?

How to talk about emotions safely?

CRAVO

  1. Clarify feelings with questions
  2. Repeat feelings to confirm
  3. Acknowledge good intentions
  4. Validate what you can
  5. Own your feelings and role

Case study

The fanatic stack-changer

vs

The launch date

  1. Clarify feelings with questions
  2. Repeat feelings to confirm
  3. Acknowledge good intentions
  4. Validate what you can
  5. Own your feelings and role

Case study

The deadline

vs

The test

  1. Clarify feelings with questions
  2. Repeat feelings to confirm
  3. Acknowledge good intentions
  4. Validate what you can
  5. Own your feelings and role

Case study

The annoyed project manager

vs

The paralyzed devs

  1. Clarify feelings with questions
  2. Repeat feelings to confirm
  3. Acknowledge good intentions
  4. Validate what you can
  5. Own your feelings and role

Case study

The idealist

vs

Good enough for now, safe enough to try

  1. Clarify feelings with questions
  2. Repeat feelings to confirm
  3. Acknowledge good intentions
  4. Validate what you can
  5. Own your feelings and role

Case study

The incomprehensible monster legacy code

vs

The attempt to test

  1. Clarify feelings with questions
  2. Repeat feelings to confirm
  3. Acknowledge good intentions
  4. Validate what you can
  5. Own your feelings and role

Case study

Feeling valued

vs

Feeling cared for

  1. Clarify feelings with questions
  2. Repeat feelings to confirm
  3. Acknowledge good intentions
  4. Validate what you can
  5. Own your feelings and role

Summary

  • notice conflicting emotions
  • negotiate with parts
  • talk about emotions

Questions?

slides.com/chrisvfritz/emotions

chrisvfritz@gmail.com

subject: Emotions

Why testing is hard, estimating impossible, and we all feel like frauds sometimes

By Chris Fritz

Why testing is hard, estimating impossible, and we all feel like frauds sometimes

The MIT License (MIT) Copyright (c) 2021-present Chris Fritz Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

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