Missing the Target

I work with teams quite a bit. I help them understand practices that will lead to better software. Inevitably during the description of some practice I hear the words “that will never work here”. The phrase seems universal, almost like “Kleenix” is to facial tissues.

Take TDD for example. I describe the basics – red, green, refactor. “Wow, cool” they say. This is followed closely by “but that will take too much time” or the ever popular “we can’t possibly add tests to all that legacy code”.

I don’t expect teams to hit the bull’s eye (for that matter I don’t expect myself to hit the bull’s eye either!). I do hope that people will try. I also hope they understand that failure is an option. Actually, failure is a darn good option; so much learning can come from failure.

And here is the point. Set your eye on the target. Take aim and practice, practice, practice. Eventually you will hit a target. It might not even be the target you originally set out to hit. That too is learning!