Thanks, Wayne

In a previous life, when I was a software test engineer, my manager Wayne told me to stop helping my developer debug the code and, instead, I should focus on finding and filing as many bugs as I could. Reluctantly, I obeyed. I preferred the debugging part.

It's well-known at Microsoft that, if you do a good job, the bar goes up and more is expected of you. Apparently, I did too good a job, because later, even as I had one of the highest bug-find rate in the team, he said it's not enough to just file bugs; I also had to convince the developer that the bugs I found must be fixed. Again, reluctantly, I obeyed.

Fast-forward to today. In the past couple of months (Yes, two months before school started!), we've had homework. One of our classes is a program called the Leadership Edge. The homework for that class included tests and feedback mechanisms designed to help us learn more about ourselves -- our strengths, our weaknesses, and other people's perception of us. Today, which is (only!) Day Two of orientation week, all 113 of us first-years did a one-on-one role-playing session with a second-year student, a faculty member, a staff member, or an alum. Our goal was to convince the other reviewer (who acts as a peer from another department) to go with a technology which is better than the solution they were already pursuing. About a week ago, we got the background information for the character we play, but we only had 45 minutes today to review the facts about the issue.

To be honest, I was nervous. My hands were cold and clammy as I picked up the packet containing the facts. But as I reviewed it, I realized it was just like reading emails at work! Actually, it's even better than emails at work, which tend to split off into different discussions. I got the information easily, made the connections between the facts, and even came up with my own arguments for my side of the issue. When it came time, I got my head completely around the whole issue. Piece of cake! But my hands were still cold and clammy.

My reviewer Bob was standing outside a small meeting room and, after introductions, we went in. I asked whether, in the simulation, we were supposed to be in his home office or in my home office. That makes a difference, you know. He said we were in my home office. Cool! My turf. He walked out the door, and when he came back in, the "play" started.

They say that the best actors pull from past experiences to bring up an emotion. And, really, this role-playing wasn't a stretch for me. I was a test engineer again, convincing my developer that this bug really is bad. I was a writer again, convincing the tools team that we really need this feature in our editing tool. Deja vu!

We got done (meaning that I was able to get his buy-off) before we ran out of the allocated time for the simulation. And Bob sent me off to fill out a self-evaluation; he also needed to write down his own evaluation. When we got back together, he warned me that their evaluations tend to be conservative or on the low end. I understood. But then he said I did very well.... Woo-hoo! Then we went over things that I did well and things I could improve on.

All in all, I feel a lot better about this whole going-back-to-school thing. I don't have to start from scratch after all! And for that, "Thanks, Wayne, for cracking the whip! I wouldn't have developed my negotiating skills otherwise." :-)