It’s all about trust

Do you trust your code? When you start building a new feature, do you feel confident that all the current features still work after your latest changes? When a new developer starts reading your code, do you trust it’s easy for her to understand what you have written? If you don’t trust your code, is it because you don’t have tests for it or is it because you don’t constantly refactor it? Or is it because you never or rarely pair program or ask your colleague to do you a code review? What can you do to increase your trust on your code?

Do you trust your integrations? When you have your application running with the latest changes, do you know that all the integrations between different layers and services still work? If not, is it because you have no end-to-end tests that you can run automatically? What can you do to increase your trust on your integrations?

Do you trust your releases? When you are releasing your software, do you trust that everything will be ok? Do you feel safe for deploying many times a day or does it take weeks to prepare your release. If you don’t feel confident for releasing often, is it because your deployment scripts are a mess or is it because you don’t know if the software works or is it because it’s so difficult to roll back? What can you do to increase your trust on your releases?

Do you trust your team mates? When you agree with your team mates about the work to be done, do you trust that they can do it properly? Can you trust that they spend their time wisely and for the good of the team. If you have hard time to trust them, is it because instead of a shared goal everyone is going to their own direction? Or is it because you don’t actively communicate with each other? Or is it because instead of sharing your code you work in silos? Or is it because you don’t constantly try to find better ways to work? What can you do to increase your trust on your team mates and their trust on you?

Do you trust your manager? When you have a problem in your work that you find difficult to solve, do you trust that your manager will help you for solving the problem? If the manager isn’t able to help you, is it because she cannot see your problem? What can you do to increase your trust on your manager? What can your manager do so that you can trust her more?

Do you trust your employees? Do you believe that they are able to do the best possible work. Is it easy for you to let them do their work or do you feel that you must control them? If you find it difficult to trust your employees, is it because there’s no enough visibility? Or because you are not happy with the results? If you are not happy with the results, are they bad because your employees do not know what is the direction the company wants to go to or because the employees don’t have all the information they need to do their work? What can you do to increase your trust on your employees? What can you do so that they trust more on you?

Do you trust your customer? When you work together with your customer, can you trust that the customer does everything so that your mutual business will work? If not, is it because you are not able to constantly show your progress and the quality of your work? What can you do to increase your trust on your customer? What can you do so that your customer can trust more on you?

Do you trust your supplier? When you work together with your supplier, can you trust that the supplier does everything so that your mutual business will work? If not, is it because you are not willing to share all the information the supplier needs or because you are not willing to give enough your time for your supplier? What can you do to increase your trust on your supplier? What can you do so that your supplier can trust more on you?

Software development is about trust. Well, all business is about trust. Do you increase or decrease trust around you?

And by the way, do you trust yourself?