Moved to paulclewell.com

Hey folks,

I know this is a very short-lived blog, but I've made the decision to just register it over at WordPress under my own domain name. Thought it would be easier on myself to get some recognition.

So, I've moved to: http://www.paulclewell.com/

Join me over there!

Pride in Your Work

Recently I had a chance to sit down with a bunch of folks and have a good discussion about how people seemed to hide their processes, and the tasks they were working on. Apparently at the workplace, folks were working on tasks, but not really displaying what they were working on. There weren’t any charts or a WIP board, or if there was, it wasn’t really anywhere visible in their workplace.

It brought me to thinking about why people do what they do at the workplace. It made me wonder why they were hiding their process, and if they were doing it consciously or just as a habit. Was it a product of their environment, or was it simply their nature to work on things in secret?

It also made me wonder if they were really proud of the work they were doing, or if it was simply a “going through the motions” deal. I never did get a chance to ask whether or not the gentleman I was speaking to knew if they were just hiding their work out of habit or design, but it brought a question to mind if it was by design.

If you’re doing something you’re not proud of, why are you doing it?

It’s always bothered me when a person jokes about doing his job half-assed, or just collecting a paycheck. There for a marginal amount of work and then leave at 4:30 or 5PM, before the afternoon rush hour.

The inherent problem with that, especially in software, is that when that person is working on your software, there’s going to be a drastic dive in quality. If they don’t really care enough to put in that extra effort, to put quality effort into their work, then it’s going to be an inferior product. At that point, it’s just a bug infestation waiting to happen.

I’m not proud of it, but there’s been periods in my life that I’ve had this attitude. It was a job I disliked, working for people who micro-managed and didn’t give a person a chance to grow on their own. This was mostly retail sales, mind you, not the development and quality assurance jobs I’ve had.

If you take nothing else away from this post, make this the one thing. Every time you finish a project, or finish your work ask yourself one question: Am I proud enough of the job I did that I can put my name on this? 

If you’re ashamed to put your name on your work, why did you do it?

From Tester to Coach

A couple of months ago, I was a Quality Assurance Engineer with a privately held company. There I would write automated tests in Ruby/Cucumber, and generally test the product with a combination of manual testing and automation. I was paid alright, and the work wasn’t the worst I’d ever had. I enjoyed the company of my co-workers and (for the most part) enjoyed going to work every day.

There was a problem, though: I didn’t feel challenged anymore. I was able to go in, completely shut off my brain, do my job, and then leave. I felt like I was stagnating, that there was no growth in my professional or personal life. I wanted something new, something to challenge me and help me to grow as a developer and person.

I was able to reach out to an old friend at LeanDog, Cheezy. I told him my situation, letting him know that I didn’t feel like I was growing anymore, and wanted a new challenge. That’s when I imagine he rubbed his hands together and laughed. Of course that didn’t really happen, but I like to imagine it, if only for my own amusement.

I headed out to the LeanDog boat here in Cleveland, had a couple of interviews, and then got the call to put in my two weeks notice.

It’s been a long time since I was this excited about an opportunity. Not only would I be able to teach and help others grow like I wanted to, but I’d be getting paid for it? Where do I sign?!

Flash forward a month, and as I’m writing this, I’m in Cheezy’s SUV and we’re headed to Agile and Beyond over in Deerborn, Michigan. Then it’s off to a client and my first real gig. (This was March 8th.)

It’s going to be a great year.