The "WTF" doc

Delivering value at every phase

So, you’ve just joined a new company. Panic!

Phase One

You’re thinking “wtf?”.

We encounter two types of “wtf” moments when we join a new company. The first type is the “wtf is this?”. This is a feeling of a huge codebase you are yet to conquer. A tormenting Jenkins pipeline. A 17-step deployment process. You are experiencing pure confusion.

The second type is “wtf, why?”. This is a when you ask yourself why would anyone make this decision? Imagine a “you use Redis for THAT??” type of feeling. This is different from the first type because we know what’s going on, we’re just failing to understand why someone would go that route.

We turn this misery into value with the “wtf” doc. If you can’t understand something, write it down. If you can’t understand the decision-making, write it down. We’ve started generating and building future value.

We get immediate value because this is how you begin the learning. You start by asking questions. Which leads us to phase two.

Phase Two

Start turning “wtf”’ into documentation. Reply to your own questions.

You’ve been carefully noting down your “wtf” experiences and you’ve slowly adapted. You’ve learned some internal and domain knowledge, understand the system better, know your away around the processes and policies, etc. You’ve got something to offer.

This is when you start replying to your own previous questions. You know what the internal acronyms mean. You know that 17-step deployment process by heart. You understand that Redis decision. You still don’t agree with it, but you understand where they were coming from.

We gain incredible value because this can now be used as company onboarding material. Congratulations, you’ve just scaled yourself. None of the new-joiners will have to go through the challenges you’ve gone through.

You’ve saved the company tangible resources because people’s onboarding is now faster and more efficient. It’s difficult to measure, but you definitely did it. You also needed the phase two, to proceed to the final phase.

Phase Three

Remove the “wtf”. Fix the process, remove the headache, make the environment better.

You’ve gone through a lot. You went from confusion, to understanding, and now to resolving. You also understand some things are only fixable in 5 years. Some never. Some are not even worth it.

You’re coming from an informed place due to going through the necessary steps. You are at an amazing spot because you have understanding for the past and you can build the future with this in mind.

You’ve saved the company resources again, or allowed for more efficiency. You’ve gone through amazing projects and learned a lot along the way. You know the pros and cons of the alternatives. You have matured.