It’s Ok to miss opportunities

Last year I had the privilege of attending Agile Testing Days to do a workshop and talk. It had been on my goal list for a number of years and I was so excited when the organizers saw value in what I had to say. One of the stand out talks I saw was Erika Chestnut’s. One of the key phrases was on the lines of how poor quality is a result of missed opportunities. It was an inspiring quote that really gave me some fire in the belly to keep doing what I do.

What if I miss opportunities?

As with everything though there was a flip side. My “worry brain” started to think, what if I miss opportunities? Am I going to be a part of the problem that is causing poor quality? It was a colleague that reminded me last year that I am not responsible for quality. I do not own it. It’s not down to me. It’s a team responsibility and that is so clear to me to this day.

What if we miss the opportunities?

What I have realized with these thoughts is that we need to change the I to a We. What if *we* miss the opportunities? This changes the conversation entirely. One big problem, in my opinion, is that we are fixated on “performance reviews’’ and how we are doing individually. Why not add a “team performance review”? It’s a bit of an interesting thought and I’m sure there are pros/cons of it. However, it could really shift the narrative. Do we lift each other up and work towards a common goal? Or are we fixated on how individuals are doing? I’m going to keep this in my mind going forward in my career and bring this conversation to the table.

Conclusion

The conclusion that I have come to is that it’s OK to miss those opportunities. Nothing is ever perfect. What we can do though is pick a handful of opportunities as a team. We hope to pick the right opportunities. However, if we don’t. That’s OK too. All of this is a learning curve in life.