Fragility Frustration + Release Rage = 0 days since last “red face”
Tech Safety and tracking mood/morale.
Here at SEP, we have this mood-tracking app that we use, called Morale. The premise is simple, each day I get an email at 3:00 p.m. and I click on one of three links — “Good”, “Meh”, or “Bad”.
Generally, I am a very optimistic person. I trick myself into being happy, a lot! (And I really enjoy being happy.) Typically, at 3:00 I am clicking the “Good” link, which translates into a green smiley face in Morale…that always feels good.
Well, today that changed. Today at 3:00 p.m., I clicked the “Bad” link.
Why did I do that? I have a wonderful wife, amazing pets, and a great family. I love my job, and the brilliant people that I work with. So why in the world did I go “red faced” today?
Fragility Frustration:
I am a developer. I am currently a newbie on a relatively old project. This project has hundreds of automated tests…including some that are fragile. I can run the tests end-to-end all day long and get one set of results, simply to turn around and get different results the very next day. Man, that is frustrating!
Release Rage:
As I said, I am currently a newbie on a relatively old project. We are supposed to be releasing this project today…Friday…and it is 3:00 p.m. on Friday already.
I believe that both Fragility Frustration and Release Rage are very real. These conditions, and more, come from the Tech Safety movement led by Joshua Kerievsky.
I try not to get hung up on having one bad day, or even a streak of bad days. Instead I look for opportunities to get out of my rut and definitely expect to get my hands dirty climbing out.
I recommend what Shawn Achor calls Practicing Positive, and share positive stories or lesson. Even with Practicing Positive, though, sometimes you will have a day where you have gone “red faced”…it is up to you on how you will react to the red face.
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react, that matters.” -Epictetus
