What do you do with a person like this?
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Background: I have a colleague who has been the Lone Ranger in a project for a couple of years now but recently that project's problems has become a much higher priority (it's a system for the gov't and we've landed a significant new contract to expand this service to a larger number of gov't agencies, ergo the higher visibility). A small group of us have been moved onto the project to help get everything up to snuff. He has long complained that he doesn't have the ability to test code before pushing it to develop, which is partially true. However, there is some basic testing he COULD do but apparently doesn't since I can't get my code tested for finding bugs in stuff he's pushed to develop. Things like testing the SQL to make sure it doesn't throw syntax errors or "Inconsistent types" (comparing a boolean to a string) Since he's been the Lone Ranger in this code for so long, he's a little prickly about us coming into his domain. How tactful should I be and how long should I remain tactful?
Ask yourself a question: why is he "unable to test code before pushing it"? Is he so stupid or is he so overworked (all these years without a help) and now has even less time to do what he is ordered to do (by manager) because he has to cope with endless questions and complains by you and others on top of his already busy schedule? And how about you - did you even try to see his situation or are you all under such stress that you do not even have the time to stop and think clearly? Did anybody actually asked him what he needs? ...or you just came in like a flood with "it is our code now and this is how it is gonna be .... you stupid little...." Start by writing tests and think how to divide the task in such a way that you do not need each others perfect and up-to-date code. Do you really need him to first implement/fix something for you to do your job or you could actually create some independent test-layer or fix it yourself but are lazy and complaining, all blaming the one and only that managed to keep it all running that long with bus factor of 1? Are you really helping?