What Testers CanLearn from Management
Gurus
Egbert Bouman, Valori,
The Netherlands
Europe’s Premier Software Testing EventWorld Forum Convention Centre, The Hague, Netherlands
WWW.QUALTECHCONFERENCES.COM
“The Future of Software Testing”
EuroSTAR 2008, The Hague
What testers can learn
from
management gurusEgbert Bouman, [email protected]
An excellent tester … comes in four.
1. Test skills: methods,
techniques, tools
2. IT skills: IT architecture,
programming, tools
3. Soft skills: communication,
management
4. Domain knowledge:
understanding your
(customers) business
Sources: Stuart Reid, SmarTEST, …
Test skills
Domain knowledge
Soft
skillsIT
skills
An excellent tester … has the right attitude.
What’s the difference?
The developer …
The user …
The tester …
Constructive maliciousness:
Make things fail…
…to make things better
Testers pigheads? Don‟t fool us, stupid!
We firmly
disagree!
Some people
think testers
are pigheads.
Ron Tolido
discussed IT
characters in
„Automati
seringgids‟,
jan 2005
Funny and
food for
thought!
Let‟s do the test:
1 2
Let‟s do the test:
1 2
So testers are not pig-headed. That‟s to say…
It‟s a little bit in our character
First see, then believe
Cherishing our independence
And there‟s nothing wrong with that
Mea culpa: SmarTEST
Independent testing is crucial to IT projects
But we do have a challenge
Current IT development: agile, be involved
Dedication to business and IT
How to stay independent?
The future of independent testing
Involved
Empathic
Dedicated
Smart
Adaptive
Risk aware
Persistent
but not
but not
but not
but not
but not
but not
without being
Compromised
Overly soft
Blindfolded
Too pragmatic
Unreflective
Anxious
Pig headed
Required: an extraverted and
inspiring test culture
Here we go again…
What is „culture‟, actually?
Kenichi Ohmae (McKinsey):
“The way we do things
around here”
A culture simply exists
Cannot easily be made
Want to create a culture?
Why not listen to the experts?
www.managementgurus.nl
Ample choice!
Which guru is gonna
help us in fostering
an inspiring and
extraverted test
culture?
Today: five advices from five premium gurus
1. Foster collaboration and transparancy
(Prahalad)
2. Don’t underestimate anybody
(Kets de Vries)
3. Create communities
(Maslov)
4. Be a leader, rather than a manager
(Covey)
5. Maintain your focus
(Collins)
References, links
and further
reading for the
next slides:
www.smartest.nl
1. C.K. Prahalad
Godfather of “Core competencies”.
Introduced the notion in 1990
Godfather of “Co-creation”
Create a culture of collaboration and transparancy
Adopt DART model: Dialogue, Access, Risk analysis,
Transparancy
Compare this to the „Agile Manifesto‟:
1. Collaboration and Independence
Dialogue
Access
Risk analysis
Transparancy
DART is a useful framework for testers
Smart, collaborative, agile
Whilst maintaining independence
Let DART inspire you
to jump in the development process
avoiding the independency risk
Collaborative and
agile testing…
… maintaining independency
and risk awareness.
2. Manfred Kets de Vries
Psychologist and manager
Author of „Leaders, Fools and Impostors:
Essays on the Psychology of Leadership‟
Higly respected personal coach for top managers
Famous free course every year
People are complex
Everybody is a betrayer,
Even you!
To a certain extent
That‟s no disqalifier
But culture and organisation
do affect your behaviour
Unaware: 80-95%
Aware: 5-20%, WIIFM
2. Don‟t underestimate anybody
People may seem predictable
History doesn‟t repeat, neither do people
Many - and complex – drivers
Don‟t expect altruism
Project interests and personal interests should run in parallel
In mid-term and long run
Projectlead
Reqts Implement TestmanagerIT
Testmanager
Testmanager
3. Abraham Maslow
For test leads:
Two lower rows
should be OK.
The opportunities
are in the upper tree
American psychologist
Developed the “humanistic psychology”
Each individual: unique and varied motivators
Same base motivation hierarchy
3. Create communities
Bring people together in (sub)groups
E.g. Special Interest Groups
And kill three birds with one stone
Adressing uppermost Maslow levels
Social: meet (professional) colleagues
Esteem: gain respect from the group
Actualisation: increase your skills
Create communities
4. Stephen Covey
American management consultant
Personal, business and family values
“The seven habits of highly effective people”
habit 1 - be proactive
habit 2 - begin with the end in mind
habit 3 - put first things first
habit 4 - think win-win
habit 5 - seek first to understand and then
to be understood
habit 6 - synergize
habit 7 - sharpen the saw
4. Be a leader, rather than a manager
The eighth habit: inspire others
Uncover your own voice, and let it be heard…
… and help others to find their own voice.
From personal to leadership greatness
The manager controls
The leader inspires
Take and give responsibility
Stakeholders
Developers
Testers
5. Jim Collins
Key points from his bestseller „Good to Great‟:
First Who ... Then What.
Hire the right people.
Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith).
Be honest about what you can and can not be the best at.
The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity).
Focus, stick to what you can and are the best at.
A Culture of Discipline.
The right people are self disciplined about it.
Technology Accelerators.
Technology is not the magic answer, but it can accelerate you.
5. Keep your focus
Testers are not expected to be surprising
Neither is your financial accountant
We must be reliable, credible, trustworthy, dependable
Collins: do your good job, steady and persevering
It will bring you success in the end
New day, new idea? Don‟t bother, you don‟t always need to!
No need to read all the gurus
Just five will do
They‟ll enrich you!
Keep focus
and determination
Testers: from pigheads to lead inspirators
Foster collaboration and transparancy
Keep being persistent
Further reading
Links and references: www.smartest.nl
SmarTEST book
Smart and
happy testing!
