I was reading this post by Penelope Trunk about three questions she hates to get.

The last one (You ask me a question that requires more than two paragraphs.) has struck me not because I have trouble explaining my failings...

Like my favorite Jackson Brown line goes...
Don't confront me with my failures
I had not forgotten them
but that I had just come from a meeting which hadn't gone quite like I expected and I was trying to figure out why. I spent a few minutes trying to boil down what happened into a sentence.

This meeting didn't go well solely because of me. Because I thought I had to be involved in every conversation and that I had something interesting to say in every discussion within it.

After the meeting was over, a very kind friend and I were analyzing what happened and he told me in the kindest way that I shouldn't have called the meeting since it wasn't in my realm of concern. And that people might have been uncomfortable because I was the one asking questions about the lack of QA coverage etc.

My initial response was that I saw a need, a vacuum and thought that for the good of the team and the product I needed to raise the issue, but the truth is... I didn't trust enough that everyone was going to do their job and so I wanted to be there to guide them, step by step.

So now I have to have a little talk with myself about how to make my concerns outside my immediate realm expressed in more constructive was rather than that constant mother-view of the world. It's not my job to make sure everyone eats their vegetables, but it is ok to make the suggestion, right?

This weekend I was at a friend's house and their adorable daughter asked me if she could have some ice cream that I was dishing. My response was "can I Please have some ice cream?". It was reflex, and everyone thought it was funny, but in a very mild way it was inappropriate.

So, yes, you may have some ice cream, and QA will be fine.