Beautiful Teams

What to Do Next

I was in a bit of a quandary about what to do next. I wasn't going to tell the team to stop unit-testing and doing code reviews—I felt as if those two activities were going to save us. But I did want to be able to keep my job. And I didn't want to lose more time on the project. I decided to talk to Dan now. Dan was the laid-back type. He thought before he spoke, and not much ever seemed to faze him. Aside from being an original developer on the product, he would help me think through the problem. He wouldn't freak out.

I emailed Dan asking for about 30 minutes of his time for help with this problem. He should let me know and I would go over to his office. Dan has that lazy look that masks a brilliant brain. He's the kind of person who ambles rather than strides, who looks as if he's half-asleep and then says something that stuns you with its brilliance. If anyone had ideas about what to do, it would be Dan.

About 10 minutes later, Dan sauntered over. "Hey, thanks for coming over. Want to go to your office?"

"Nope, I bet you have all the task information here."

"You're right. Let's take a look. I don't want to lose another week. I also don't want to stop the code reviews—or the unit tests—but Big Cheese is having a bird. I need to show some progress next week."

"Did he threaten to fire you?"

"Yup."

Dan paused for a minute and frowned. "Uh-oh. He usually only threatens to fire Nancy. The last time he threatened to fire a manager, he did."

"When was that?"

"Two weeks ago."