Observation created almost 5 years agoIn this [DBWG], Steve made two simple, but powerful goals:
• If we are successful in removing flaky tests from the suite, we expect our average build time on Codeship to drop meaningfully (at least 20%) from 20:46.
• If we are successful in establishing a process to address new flakes as (or immediately after) they are introduced, we expect failure rates of builds on the main master branch not to rise from their current negligible levels.I replied in the ticket itself, but it is worth repeating here:
Just want to say how much I love the second goal. It is hard to remove flakes... it is much harder to set up a system that ensures flakes never are allowed to grow into the issue they have become today. Kudos!
Well done Steve!
Observation created almost 5 years agoFor starters, I was impressed by the quick turnaround to remove courses from Copy Company. It came up earlier in the day, and then oh what's this, a PR is already ready to be reviewed? Happy to pick it up, especially since it's something that benefits Learn next quarter. 🙌
But the quickly-moving PR is especially impressive because the notes were dense with Classic Steve Thoughtfulness.
"Why do we care about removing courses from Copy Company?"
"How can we be sure that we're safe to do so?"
"What even IS Copy Company?"These are questions that each have multiple answers in Steve's PR notes. Even though I've worked with Copy Company a few times, I still felt like I was learning something. I felt empowered to give a review and move this along in the process, because I knew that Steve had explored the potential risks around giving this code the axe.
Here is the PR in question! https://github.com/lessonly/lessonly/pull/9093#pullrequestreview-523805875 As someone who always favors more over less when it comes to context and supplemental information, I appreciated these notes a lot!!! 🤩
Observation created about 5 years agohttps://lessonly.slack.com/archives/C8LGVESDC/p1601648444038100
The thing I love about this is that it is clear and actionable.
- Sense: Paying attention to those emails is valuable. Multiple folks on the team likely received that. Only one did something about it.
- Context/Respond/Actionable: Saying what the impact will be, an initial estimate, story created, and giving a recommendation makes the message actionable
❤️🙏🏾
Observation created about 6 years agoFeaturing:Steve G.We challenge ourselvesWe inspire others to do better workWe recognize the opportunity in challengesAgile Coachhttps://lessonly.slack.com/archives/C8UPX4UPM/p1571263756008600
This note starts with a dose of awesomeness with a call out to the momentum. Therefore bringing brightness to the room, while about to have a semi-difficult conversation.
I really appreciated the fact that the following message made me feel unworried, because I believe there are clear indications the squad has their eye on the ball with statements like; "slowed down by two back-end blocker stories... merge conflicts". Talk about delivery operational awareness!
Reflection without a gameplan for change is often pointless. So I was thrilled to read things like; "if we can get those into review tomorrow morning and be proactive about seeking reviewers". This shows a plan and how the plan differs from what we might have been doing.
Then with statements like this; "I think we can have all of Epic 1 done by end-of-week and start testing with customers on Monday. @adam, I'm sure you're eager for this, so I'll keep you posted on our progress tomorrow."
... it exudes a quote I love, which isKeep the most important thing, the most important thing.
In this case, the most important thing is getting working software in the hands of our customers so that we can keep the learning going strong! This reminds me of a Jeff Gothelf quote
Keep measuring and learning even after you ship.
... it’s all discovery and we learn from everything we make; be it a paper prototype, or the next feature in your production software. I agree with him.🙌🏾
This is a great example of us calling out when we are behind, when we are ahead, and when we are on pace, and what is the most important thing for us. Delivery management = operational awareness = self and squad accountability = excellence.
I think overall the squad was a little behind their goals at the time of writing this. I'd love to see us lean into that difficult conversation a bit and express the psychological safety and clarity that comes with simply stating it plainly. The goal isn't perfection, the goal is alignment, togetherness, and communicating reality so that we as a tribe can react, learn, and grow from the highs and lows of our journey.
It ended in such an inspirational way that I'll end this with that same sentiment:
Let's keep up the momentum, and keep helping each other out tomorrow! :fire: