Noooooo, where did you come from?!? - The Unexpected Defect

We've all been there, our product has gone through rigorous testing and with glee we released to masses only to find a nagging defect that no one expected. Whether its due to a missed use case, unintended user operation, or a calculation error, defects can be the bane of a products existence. Risk management plans are necessary but don't always capture every deployment risk. And sadly issues are sometimes difficult to avoid. For most product teams, they're the reason for hotfix branches. But fret not, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. After years of sprints and deployments I've found a few good techniques that have helped me manage unexpected defects.

Take a Moment to Think

As a project or product lead, dealing with an unexpected defect can be stressful especially if that defect has a big impact to budget or user experiences. In these cases panic can kick in which can alter good judgement and even make the situation worse. An attitude of calm can help bring good judgement to the forefront of your mind. I personally take the time to say a prayer for wisdom and peace. In most cases the reason for anxiety is the fear of consequences. When you're able to move past the consequences to solving the issue you're able to approach the problem with a clear mind.

Be Honest

When issues arise its very easy to minimize the impacts to prevent negative consequences. I've found that honesty is the best approach to getting to the bottom of the issue. When you face the fear full-on there's nothing else to do but solve the problem. Being dishonest about an issue can make things worse because there's anxiety in knowing the truth of the situation can be exposed at any time.

Construct a Good Triage Team

Not all defects are the same. Some are trivial and can be fixed at a later time, but others have serious and adverse impacts. Triage teams are critical to getting to the bottom of the serious issues that need to be fixed quickly with quality. These teams are dedicated not only to finding the root cause of the issue but coming up with the proper solution at the moment. I say this because in many cases the solution deployed at that moment may not be the final solution due to the time it will take to code and test the permanent fix.

In short, as a product owner you'll face challenging issues and need resiliency to keep things moving. It's important to know that a defect, as critical as it may be, is not the end of the world nor the end of your product's life. Knowing this will make your release days much more enjoyable.