Modern testing for modern stacks

We have gotten into the habit of thinking deeper about one topic on a weekly basis. We pick topics based on anything interesting we read - so the topics can range from 'how to express the value of testing' to 'Dieter Rams' design principles' to 'effective remote work habits'. Employees are guided to spend no more than one hour researching the topic online. The emphasis is on coming up with their own ideas and interpretations. We then meet as a group to exchange ideas. I love this habit and consider it one of the more unique benefits you will enjoy at Qxf2.

Topic: Uncertainty, surprise and our first instinct

27-Sep-2016

How do we react to surprises and uncertainty in our jobs? Do we rush to security? This is key to understand how we tackle issues confronting start-ups/

Our thoughts

Avinash

When we face uncertainty and surprise we tend to behave differently. When we are working on new things there will be a lot of uncertainty especially working on new technology new clients. It's tough to plan ahead always. There are times when we want to play safe especially when there is a constraint on time. We like to travel in a path which we have already taken. We love it when we solve a new problem. We need to consider uncertainty and surprise when we commit to new work and come with estimates. Like it will be tougher working on things which are half done by someone else. Like implementing some different framework will take longer than implementing our framework. More experience and working in different technologies gives us confidence when we face new uncertainty and surprise.

Annapoorani

If there is some uncertainty in the job,several ways are there to effectively handle it. Some situation might require us to act it immediately,some situation might not be.Whatever it is we should not be panic.We should try to think or recollect whether the same thing occurred previously to us or our friend ,how we handled that situation and we should always think,we are capable of dealing with the situation.By doing mistakes we can learn a lot.We can take help from others,they may share their experience and we can get profit from it.After that whatever plan we have we can start executing it.Always try to remember what can be done to prevent the problem in future. Evaluate what happened, how the unexpected problem came up in the first place, how we handled it, and how we could have managed it more effectively.There is always the possibility of the unexpected waiting for us around the corner.There is no way to avoid it. Always expect the unexpected.

Indira

Unexpected events can happen at work place any time. It can be related to your work/job anything. Some of them need immediate attention and some may not. The issue is how to handle in those situations. In most circumstances the better option is to stay optimistic and maintain positive attitude. For example, Suppose you are getting fired from the company, for that moment you may think that event is negative but this may turn out well for you as you might find a better job. Similarly,your higher manager may change and nature of work may change or new release was planned for next day and there is some internet outage in the office which are all unexpected so instead of getting panic its time to show your leadership skills and evaluate what happened and how you handle it and so similar disruptions may not happen again.Also building inner strength helps in facing the situation calmly.

Rohan

I am at beginning phase of my career. I didn't get many surprises during this period but I came across many of uncertainty while working with clients, during doing internal Qxf2 work. I completely agree with Annapoorani and Indira, uncertainty can happen at work place any time. I addition to this, many times, I observed myself; I expected chances of uncertainty will happen during XYZ events. For example: while learning new things, while working on multiple platforms and multiple browsers. So my mind will be set to face/handle the uncertainty. If uncertainty is related to technical problems, then I will try to find the roots of the problem and solve it. Sometimes, if problem taking more time, I prefer to take suggestions/help from seniors. We always need to accept the uncertainty and without any panic, we need to face it. Practically, at end, only one thing happen, either it will boost your confidence level or you get a good experience.

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