The context of this blogpost is captured here. In short, this is a part of Q & A i did with Women Testers website recently on the topic of careers and beyond. The questions were asked mostly by people who were at the early stages of their career. The series can be located at: https://www.womentesters.com/q-and-a-with-anuj-magazine-part-2/
[Anuj] In large part of my career, I meticulously followed trends only to find out that:
1. Following trends is an easy thing.
2. Technology trends are often short-lived.
3. Despite 1 and 2, technology trends matter.
Since technology trends matter, we got to do something about them.
Learning about them is the least we can do and we must learn. But the real challenge is to find trends at the right time and assess their impact on our careers before they become threatening.
I follow these three step principles to deal with trends.
1. Have a beginners mindset.
2. Anticipating change and adapting to it is a skill. We often fail to give it the stature of a skill.
3. As much as we try, it’s not possible to anticipate change everytime. If that happens, do the best possible thing: follow fast.
Let me close this by sharing this story:
Years ago, the original product of Intel was D-RAM which is basically memory for computers and they had just started to invent the micro-processor. They had a real business problem, the Japanese were killing them in the D-RAM market, just destroying their market share.
So Andy Grove and Robert Noyce were at the office late one night and they were talking to each other.
· Andy says to Robert: Wow we got a problem!
· Robert says we sure do.
· Andy asks- If Board says we would get the new guys to solve this problem, what would the new guys do.
· Robert says Oh that’s easy, they will get us out of the D-RAM business.
So Andy Grove says, Yes why don’t we do that before these other guys get in.
To me, Andy’s question about “what would new guys do” is quite profound because it reflects that Andy was more than willing to be a beginner again. And to me, that is what is needed most when we drive the change efforts.
Most of the organizations fail to cannibalize the stuff at the right time.
I would leave you with this question to ponder: Would you be willing to cannibalize your career of trends suggest that your current career is going to be disrupted?
Q) What are the new trends,topics and tools that the testers need to equip themselves with before stepping into 2019?
[Anuj] In large part of my career, I meticulously followed trends only to find out that:
1. Following trends is an easy thing.
2. Technology trends are often short-lived.
3. Despite 1 and 2, technology trends matter.
Since technology trends matter, we got to do something about them.
Learning about them is the least we can do and we must learn. But the real challenge is to find trends at the right time and assess their impact on our careers before they become threatening.
I follow these three step principles to deal with trends.
1. Have a beginners mindset.
2. Anticipating change and adapting to it is a skill. We often fail to give it the stature of a skill.
3. As much as we try, it’s not possible to anticipate change everytime. If that happens, do the best possible thing: follow fast.
Let me close this by sharing this story:
Years ago, the original product of Intel was D-RAM which is basically memory for computers and they had just started to invent the micro-processor. They had a real business problem, the Japanese were killing them in the D-RAM market, just destroying their market share.
So Andy Grove and Robert Noyce were at the office late one night and they were talking to each other.
· Andy says to Robert: Wow we got a problem!
· Robert says we sure do.
· Andy asks- If Board says we would get the new guys to solve this problem, what would the new guys do.
· Robert says Oh that’s easy, they will get us out of the D-RAM business.
So Andy Grove says, Yes why don’t we do that before these other guys get in.
To me, Andy’s question about “what would new guys do” is quite profound because it reflects that Andy was more than willing to be a beginner again. And to me, that is what is needed most when we drive the change efforts.
Most of the organizations fail to cannibalize the stuff at the right time.
I would leave you with this question to ponder: Would you be willing to cannibalize your career of trends suggest that your current career is going to be disrupted?
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