Why You Don't Really Need a Hero

Once upon a time, this one place had some test automation. A couple of wizard-level guys built it and maintained it.

Everything was great until it wasn't. For some reason, they both left.

Months later, I was brought in to assess and fix the automation. Nobody had time to maintain it because they were either busy with their own work, or didn't know enough about the programming language it was written in.

After banging on it for a couple weeks, I said, "there's gotta be a better way."

"I'm gonna make another framework. One that testers can use and maintain. And I'm gonna train them on how to use it. It's gonna be great!"

And it WAS great. It took about a week to build out the core functionality and start creating test cases. I was even able to show my manager how it worked and helped him extend it some.

People said YAY FRITZ! SUCH AWESOME! VERY WOW! and raved about how awesome it was gonna be to automate test cases with this spiffy new framework.

And then WONDER OF WONDERS... nobody used it.

:/

Fast forward a couple years later

Different client, similar situation. This time I was asked to build out a framework.

As the project developed and it got more complex, I realized that there were things I was working on that other QA engineers may enjoy work on too. Plus it would help them learn more about the project.

I asked a couple of them: "Hey would you like to work on [this part] and tackle it? Got some ideas for how it might work but I've seen your work before, and it'd be a great exercise."

100% of the time they said yes.

And we shared ideas and approaches and fine tuned those parts of the solutions

The result? They're still using the solution today. And it's flourishing.

Intriguing.

What made the difference?

The difference was in my approach. For the first example, I ran in and played the Hero Card.

I had thought: wow if I can just tactically fix this problem, and land a calculated blow on this particular thing, I can help out this whole company.

"How cool would that be," I mused, "and how much would it boost me professionally, if I can fix this up the for them at a fraction of the cost of them bringing in some huge consultancy to do the same thing."

And it didn't work!

Compare that to the other approach, which was to identify places where people around me could level up, learn more and contribute to a common goal. Involving those who were interested, to work together and build something.

That worked.

Why though? One simple reason:

People don't want a hero.

As much as people may need help, they don't want to be in the position where they need a hero. Like: Damsel-in-Distress, Help-me-Obi-Wan-you're-our-only-hope type thing. Nope.

People want to be the hero.

Great consultancies know how to tap into that energy and help companies build heroic people.

To do that, we have to take on a different role:

The Guide

The highest level of knowledge is when you can teach someone else how to do it.

That's how we do what we do.

While we can come in and create a custom solution just for you, it's much better to guide you on how to make your own solution.

We create an extremely detailed project plan, and work alongside you to build out a solution that fits your needs.

This helps foster ownership, creates a stronger knowledge base, increases collaboration and makes for a better overall solution.

In short: we help you become Automation Heroes. We'll be your Guides.

If you're ready to start on that path, let's set up a short chat. Grab a slot on our calendar here.

Hats off to Matt Carpenter, Jason Ellinger and Beard and Bowler Productions for the important lesson in taking on the Guide role.