Coming to Jesus

We had one of those meetings where a problem was flushed out on mass. The entire software department got cross examened by the big boss. It was terrifying and fascinating at the same time. We went over the process of what broke and what things should have bee. Then we went over what should be and what we are going to do.

I'm so very glad I was not in the front row. I sat one back and and felt uncomfortable. As questions arose, even more people were summoned to the room. It was hard to watch and participate in. It was a great for getting people to go over a bad thing. It was bad for teaching people to do better programming.

The whole department was called in to teach people about these kinds of meetings. Now the young guys can be exposed to this sort of ass reaming before being the target of it. It is harsh, painful, informative and time consuming. I was thinking of three or four things I could have been doing that were quite productive. I was squirming. I noticed a few others doing the same.

This was not nearly as much fun as the hours later meeting recounting the minutes (blow by blow) for a couple folks in the software department who missed the earlier adventures. Some took it calmly and some were genuinely upset. Both feelings are perfectly valid. I'm not sure what to say to either set of folks. There are going to be lasting affects of this meeting.