I read an article in passing recently about working under Steve Jobs. In the article it mentioned he was tough to work for and one thing that caught my attention was that he would call out anyone if their work sucked or what have you. That got me thinking about my own little place in the world. I am starting to treat my work as if Mr. Jobs would be using it himself.
That is a very scary thought. But it forces you to give your own work a more critical eye. How could this tool break? What would Mr. Jobs say if it did and how would you handle it? I ask these questions before the end of every sprint. I would be devastated if my tools were previewed by someone like Steve Jobs in front of the entire company and have them break or just suck in any way. Having your boss call you out in such a public way seems like a dick move, but the threat of it in your own little head will keep you honest with the quality of your work. I suppose it also has a lot to do with how you handle that sort of pressure. You could get gun shy and never commit another line. But we won't let that happen will we?
This thought process is forcing me to go over every touched file and what systems each has affected. Testing has become more aggressive and thorough. Things are not perfect and tools still break, but it's getting better.
First post out of the way!
