In my latest Techwell blog post, I tell the tale of our most recent estimating meeting, where the product owner brought us a user story that was written as a technical implementation. We had to get him to back up and tell us the purpose of the story, so that we could determine the appropriate technical implementation.
My summary of the WAT2 conference this past May, in Durango, appears on the SearchSoftwareQuality.com website (you have to register to see content, registration is free, I apologize that it’s a bit of a pain to have to register). I was inspired by this year’s theme of style and grace, as well as the amazing participants, leading testing practitioners from the U.S., Europe and Israel.
I’m grateful to the Software Testing Club for asking me to report my experiences at StarEast. It was fun to do and will help me remember what I learned and what I want to try now as a result!
The latest issue of Agile Record is out, and includes some terrific articles by Gojko Adzic, Jurgen Appelo, Ellen Gottesdiener, Johanna Rothman, Linda Rising, Catherine Powell and several more – what an incredibly talented and diverse group of contributors! My “Agile Testing in Real Life” column is about practicing our software development (that includes testing) skills. I like to lead by example, so in this article I recount everything I’ve done so far this year to grow my own skills and become a better software tester.
To what are you devoting your 10,000 hours of practice?
My Software Quality Connection article, Selling Agile to the CFO, has been reformatted by ITBusinessEdge into a nice little slide deck. I think it is really easy to read & digest in this new format.
I have a new article on TechTarget’s SearchSoftwareQuality.com site, “Getting on the Same Page: How Testers Can Help Clarify Requirements”. I’d love to hear of your own experiences in this area.
If you’ve ever wondered how much documentation is enough in an agile project, or you’ve heard you don’t even need documentation with agile, please check out my article on StickyMinds about how my teams have approached agile documentation.
The Testing Planet from the Software Testing Club has indeed landed! It is chock full of excellent articles about testing, both technical and cultural. Just a sample of the titles: “Yes, It’s Personal”, “Context-driven Jumping”, “Testing & Creativity”, “Weekend Testing Fun”. I am extremely proud that my article, an introduction to test automation design, is on the front page!
Though The Testing Planet is available digitally, I urge you to subscribe to the print version. 1) it is way more fun and convenient (at least for us folks who prefer an actual newspaper with our morning tea), 2) it supports the magazine, and we need to support it and keep it going! The Software Testing Club rocks, it’s a great way to meet and exchange ideas with testers all over the planet. Give a little back to your testing community by supporting The Testing Planet.
Methods and Tools
I wrote a tool review of FitNesse for the Summer issue of Methods and Tools magazine. Please let me know if you have any questions about it.
InfoQ just published an article I wrote to try to inspire more testers to grow their skills. It begins:
The software industry is changing fast. More and more teams put testing up front and center; they use tests to drive development. New and improved automated test frameworks and drivers burst onto the scene every month. Teams with more automated regression suites need testers with sharp exploratory testing skills. But most people do not learn the needed skills in university: where will these testers come from? Read more…
If you’re at Better Software/ Agile Development Practices West this week, make sure you read the issue of Better Software that came in your conference bag. I’m especially pleased to have an article in this awesome issue with extraordinary fellow testers such as Jennitta Andrea, Markus Gaertner, Pradeep Soundararajan and Parimala Shankaraiah.
Today I was lucky to hear part of the Thomas Jefferson Hour as I drove down to the ranch to work the donkeys. Thomas Jefferson, channeled by the actor and scholar Clay Jenkinson, quoted from his first inaugural address: “Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle”. Jefferson believed that our elected officials should respond to moments of tension (and as he says, there was just as much rancor in political debates back in his day as now) with politeness, good humor and respectfulness. He recommended that our current elected officials, if they can’t find common ground, should adopt “artificial good humor” and assume the best about their opponents.
TJ and I might both have our head in the clouds, but I’m a big believer in civility. I’m not recommending that we all walk around on eggshells and worry about offending people. But I do think we need to all work hard to make sure that everyone on our software team feels safe to express opinions, and conversely, is willing to accept the team consensus or majority rule, and work to make whatever approach is taken successful.
This is something I want to take to heart for myself. Here’s an example. I’m trying to explain an issue to the programmer who is on production support this sprint. I’ve analyzed the problem and think I know how it should be fixed. He seems not to understand, gets impatient with me, throws up his hands and tells me I am mistaken. I could feel mad and hurt by this, or I can remember that being the production support monkey is frustrating and stressful. I’ve given him the information I wanted to convey, and I can leave him to process it. He’s smart and motivated to take care of our customers, so I know he will find a good solution. He shouldn’t be rude to me, but if I can avoid escalating the tension, we will have a good outcome.
Indeed, later the programmer comes over and apologizes, says now he understands what I was trying to say, and appreciates the research I did into the issue. We talk about the fix and how to test it.
I’m lucky to work on a team that, though there is lots of joshing and joking, is composed of people with a deep commitment to providing a quality product, and open minds willing to consider anyone’s ideas. I’ve been on teams that didn’t provide this atmosphere of respect and civility, and I must confess, I hightailed it away from those toxic environments.
The “agile” movement was built on principles and values. “Every difference of opinion is not a difference in principle”. Give your team time and space to agree on principles and values. Going forward from there, each team member will feel free to float their ideas and opinions, and have healthy discussions. That’s what makes a project successful.
Janet Gregory and I have an article, and are interviewed in, this month’s Software Test and Performance Magazine, devoted to “Women of Influence in Software Testing”. Please check it out, it’s a great issue with lots of meaty articles.
I have a sidebar in Dawn Cannan‘s terrific “Be the Worst” article in the inaugural issue of Agile Record.
Matt Davey wrote a wonderful thumbnail summary of our book in his review of it, we are grateful.
Agile testing practitioner and coach
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