Towards the end of their conversation, Gary and Rosie touch on the concept of caring. Rosie comments that as long as we care, we will improve the quality of what we’re building. Gary goes on to amplify that caring is at the heart of everything we need to do. This is real leading with quality stuff!
What things do you do in your role to show that you care? Not just to say you care but to actually deliver/take action that you care.
And what happens when you notice that folks stop caring?
One way to share care is to follow up on something that may be forgotten. Personally, I hate it when something is released, and unless there is a bug, it’s not really referenced afterward. I like to celebrate what the team accomplished! Doing a thing is hard. Acknowledging the work is so important.
Another opportunity for following up is paying attention to what people are concerned about. If you have a conversation and note someone’s concern or struggle, checking back in after a few days can help them feel heard and seen.
One way that I know I might be on the edge of burnout is my lack of caring. If I get too stretched, then I lose my ability to care and that is a signal to me that I need to rest and recharge. Mental health days for the win!
I remember having this conversation with someone few days ago: where we emphasised and highlight if we take care of people they will take care of your product. I remember two separate quotes from industry leaders:
From Simon Sinek: “If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood, sweat, and tears”
I believe CEO of Semi conductors chip makers: “if you care for your people, you don’t need to worry about your product.”
I believe the element of care runs top to bottom.
The culture of care would just thrive on the mindset of caring internal and external stakeholders its also a result of constant practice that can be achieved by feedback, retros, internal surveys, questionnaire in terms of how are we doing? what do we expectations? Do we care enough about mental and general well being etc.
I believe when caring being stopped either top to bottom or bottom to top, it starting reflecting on the product, company and its people upfront.
As being humans, we thrive on connectivity and caring! We can do small things just as asking how your day was yesterday, how are you really feeling about xyz. These are very small practices, however hold lots of strength & weightage.
To me, caring means working from the heart, paying attention to the small details others might overlook, and anticipating potential issues before they reach the end-user. I’m aware that this level of involvement sometimes raises questions about why I go “above and beyond,” but for me, it’s simply part of my professional ethic.
I believe actions speak louder than words when it comes to showing care. I consistently go beyond my core responsibilities to ensure quality at every stage. I approach my work with genuine dedication and take ownership not just of my assigned tasks, but of the overall quality of the product.
Unfortunately, I’ve also observed situations where the focus shifts from quality to speed — where the priority becomes making something live as quickly as possible, regardless of whether it’s fully tested. This mindset often leads to preventable issues in production. In fact, just today, a release went live without testing, which is disheartening for someone who values quality as much as I do.
So thank you for bringing up this topic it’s incredibly relatable.
I would totally agree , caring is not just something nice; it is the foundation for quality work.
To me, caring means always being proactive: asking more questions when the requirements are unclear, escalating risks early, and ensuring that my feedback is constructive and actionable. I also empathize with the user: if I’m testing a product, it’s not only about “does it work?” but also, “does it work well for them?”
Sometimes, when people stop caring, that becomes apparent in the finer details—the missing edge cases, no follow-up, and “just ship it” attitude. That’s when the dialog begins on my part to find out what’s causing the disinterest and to see how we can restore their sense of ownership and pride in the work.
Shared my thoughts on the memory page and sharing same thoughts here:
When folks stop caring… no matter what stuff it is… it will just deteriorate. If it is the quality of the product and folks don’t care about it anymore, so… the quality deteriorates… if it is a human relationship, and again folks stop caring about it… Guess what… again, the quality of the relationship deteriorates So caring is the emotion that binds us to anything, if we don’t care, why would we bind ourselves to that particular stuff?
We can do small things just as asking how your day was yesterday, how are you really feeling about xyz. These are very small practices, however hold lots of strength & weightage.