Some years back my wife bought a horse called Murphy (stick with me on this one even if, like me, you’re not keen on horses). With a name like that you won’t be surprised to learn that Murphy came from Ireland. When my wife first saw him he’d been out in the paddock for a year with little food and even less attention. A year previous an Irish dealer had written him off as useless. He couldn’t jump so much as a pole laying on the ground without hitting it.
For reasons that I still don’t quite understand my wife ended up with Murphy. Probably something to do with not having much money and a large dose of naiveté. The first few weeks of riding this horse only confirmed the worse. Too sprightly for a relaxing ride out and too clumsy to compete. This horse didn’t stand a chance of excelling in anything.
None the less he got entered into his first competition with little hope of coming anywhere other than near the bottom. Yet, something quite special happened here. No, he didn’t win it. He didn’t even look that great. Yet he jumped out of his skin. Something about facing jumps far bigger than anyone had ever thought he was capable of, sparked something inside him. He was one of those characters that excelled only when pushed beyond what he, and everyone else, thought possible.
Personally I have little desire to ride horses but this was one horse I could relate too. You see for me, I feel most alive when I feel out of my depth being challenged by something I’m not even sure I’m capable of pulling off. I think deep down most of us feel like this.
How about you and your software testing team? Is there anyone in your software test team that would excel if you gave them a good challenge?
How about YOU? Are there tasks you would be better off delegating because you no longer find them interesting or challenging? Is there something bigger, much bigger, you could take on that would excite you?
Murphy, by the way, went on to win some pretty impressive trophies.