I just started at a new company. And then something strange happened. As a person, I was always the one against people just joining and having a strong opinion. Now, this time, I was the one just joining and having a strong opinion. Still, it didn’t feel like I was breaking a rule. And that made me think: was I wrong all those years?
In a way I was. Unlike what I thought all those years, you can have a strong opinion after a short period. The problem isn`t the opinion, the problem is if you expect people to trust automatically that you are right. And that I do not.
As a tester, my CV is certainly not bad. It has both experience and certificates. In the years I worked as a tester I have seen and learned a lot. So it would be fair if people trusted me based on my experience and certificates. Some will, but some will not. That might be unfair. That might make you complain. Both are understandable, but it doesn’t bring a solution closer.
When I join a company, I might believe people should trust me as a tester, even just joining. Isn’t that why they hired me? And in the past, that is what I believed. But I learned that for a lot of people, my quality as a tester should not be shown in my CV. It should be shown in my work. Yes, based on my CV they will give me the opportunity to show my skills. But in the end, I will not be judged on my CV, but on what I do for the company, and what I do in the team. As long as I get the opportunity to show I am a good tester like my CV shows, that does not feel that unfair anymore to me.
I see a similar problem with new methods introduced. After a course, sometimes even a coaching project, people should trust a method. The method had good results in the past, it was chosen with the problem of the company in mind and it is introduced by an expert. They talked to people in the company and gave it a trial run. And for some people that will be enough. For some, it will not. They want to see the method improve their work, they want it to solve their problems. Not on paper, but in reality. Yes, based on the course, or the books, they should give it the opportunity. But then it will not be judged by the book, but based on the results it will have for them. And that does not feel unfair to me.
That brings me back to the beginning. Yes, I just work in my company, but I feel my strong opinion is most of the time not bad. That is: as long as people agree with what I am saying. I do not want to have a strong opinion to convince them. I want to have a strong opinion to show I understand them, to hopefully earn their trust. Or at least earn a chance to prove myself. I want to show that I listened to the people around me, I looked at the work they did and I have taken that in. Still, it is not up to me that what I do is enough to trust me, to give me the right to a strong opinion. If it is not enough, I hope they will tell me. And I will slow down.
No matter how good I am, no matter how good the methods I work with are, if people are not willing to trust, or at least give it a chance, it doesn’t work. Because they will not do what is needed to make it succeed. Fair or not fair, it does not make a difference. You have to find out what the other person needs to trust you. And try to give that. You do not determine the criteria of trust, that is determined by the person that should give the trust. That is sometimes difficult to accept when you really tried everything to know what you are talking about. But only when you accept that, and do not lose trust in the other because of it, only then can you earn the trust to do what you want to do.