You are NOT like any other QA or tester I’ve ever met!
In my 20 year career, I’ve only met a handful of testers. And those, almost all in the last 5 – 10 years. Prior to that, I spent a lot of time alone, trying to make heads or tails of this testing thing I was doing. I did some development early on back in the day, but was so issue-focussed that it just didn’t feel right. I’m not creative like that by nature…and I break better than I build. My first co-op position was a fluke, and my intro to testing. I was supposed to be a 4th year dev student. They weren’t impressed with a 1st year newbie. So, I tested. Alone. I can’t say I knew what I was doing, but I got the job done.
My second and third co-op terms were with Waterloo Microsystems (turned Hayes Modems). They had a full on lab with a manager, a team lead, and 6 or so of us testers. We each had our own station (either Ethernet, Token Ring, or Arcnet), and every kind of desktop on the market (almost) was sitting at each station. We had modem cards and boot disks, and software to load on, etc. All from DOS of course. I found my grove and I loved it. Each station had a cable hanging from the ceiling that you could hook your headphones up to. It lead to a CD player and we all popped in our fav CD’s all day long while we worked. We had a chance to
sample each other’s music and test to our hearts content. The bug reports were awesome. They were hand written on a bug report template. Then they were WALKED over to the developer you knew that was working on that particular area. You’d stand there explaining what the deal was, and leave the report on his desk. When he had a fix, the report was walked back to your station and discussed. Then you’d set up the hardware/software necessary and test away. We didn’t really write test cases or any of that ‘waterfall’ kind of stuff. We just tested. We knew there were things that were important, and things that weren’t, and we just
kind of went by feel.
I LOVED it! Best work term EVER! I was hooked! But, just like a kid thinks that all families do/think what their family does/thinks, I naively thought that ALL software and hardware companies were this organized and valued testing in the very same
way.
My first full-time job after U of W was with a small group of developers. This is where I coded. Well…..I tried…I really did. I get it and all, but I don’t quite have that passion for it. It’s too detailed, and you spend too much time looking at the
trees. I’m a more ‘looking-at-the-forest’ kinda gal. What baffled me was that there was no testing going on?! But, as always, I figured that everyone else knows what they’re doing…..’cause obviously they’re older and wiser and I’m really green. Looking back…I’m not so sure. I just didn’t have the focus and foresight to put it all together. I’d come from this wonderful testing world to a dev house without any testing. Ok, so tech support and the customers were the ones doing testing. But for the time/money spent on tech support…and the embarrassment of the customers finding the bugs….couldn’t someone be testing BEFORE the thing went out the door and save all this?
I think I remember having conversations about this, and trying to get the ‘word’ out to my managers, but indeed – I was green and naive and didn’t want to speak too much out of turn. My next job really helped. I was a developer on a dying product. The only developer left. I developed, supported the customers, and tested. I was still pretty green, but this was an amazing learning experience. I really had a chance to understand the customers needs and point of view. I dealt with them directly, and daily. I did that for about 2 ½ years before I moved on to the new project and became a full on tester. The only tester. That was also amazing. I bought a book and struggled between the way I thought testing should be done, the way it was done by the author, and the way the stakeholders at the company needed it to be done. What they wanted wasn’t my vision of testing. BUT, it’s what the client wanted (or *thought* they wanted). Again, though, I kept most of this to myself because surely everyone else (the author, the stakeholders, and the client) knew what they were doing.
From there, I spent a lot of time changing companies and getting contracts to start QA practices and put process in place. I got some exposure to various types of testers, managers, companies, etc. It’s not that people don’t know what they’re doing in regards to testing. It’s that it’s just not that defined and no one knows what to expect from a tester or a testing ‘process’. Especially now with Agile… ‘cause you know….the developers do all their own testing, right? So, on average (and in my experience), you have developers who aren’t sure what testers do (more specifically HOW they do it), managers and stakeholders who aren’t sure what they need from testers (or HOW they do it), and even testers who aren’t sure how what they’re doing (or HOW they’re doing it) impacts anyone else. I find that old school testers assume everyone knows what they’re doing and how they do it. ‘Newer’ school testers are busy trying to convince stakeholders that what they’re doing is good (and it is!). And no one
really seems to be focusing on the stakeholders or the business end of the company with a QA mentality. Forest for the trees kind of thing.
I am more detached from the work of developers, and even the heads down testers. I’m all for the process (light version) and all, but I relate more to the client or customer and the EXPERIENCE they have as HUMANS in relation to the software. After all, that is what the business was made for. It’s where the need came from, and how the company lives and breathes. Without this connection, you have nothing. No amount of test cases, perfect code, Agile processes, exploratory testing, etc. can save you.
You are NOT developing software…a mindless tool….you are developing an EXPERIENCE that lives and breathes with its users. I don’t care how great your code is, or how supposedly ‘bug free’ it is. If end user Bob doesn’t get it in the first few seconds he lays his eyes on it, you are SCREWED! And Bob is now on Twitter…and LinkedIn…and Facebook…and all the rest of them. Bob can spread the word faster than your marketing department ever could.
So, in the last year, I’ve been hearing something I’ve never heard before. Mostly because I’m speaking to passionate stakeholders, I think. I’ve been getting ‘you are not like any other tester I’ve met’. I think my experiences really helped…a
proper lab, and great customer exposure. I see now what they mean too, as I’ve worked with the head down process driven testers who agonize over every detail they think management wants or needs.
This week, I not only heard those words, but heard something else for the first time. ‘I’ve always been afraid of QA….to hire a tester’. Not the exact words, but the meaning was there. The word ‘afraid’ was there. What’s there to fear? People who are stuck in processes and want to be closed off in a room with a build, spending weeks writing test cases and reports. Yeah, if I were passionate about my company (and I am!), I’d be pretty freaking afraid of hiring that as well!
So, don’t be afraid! Yes, I am different (and weird). But I’m never satisfied with stuff that just works. I’m constantly looking for change. I’m looking for change that removes muda (waste) from every aspect of my life. And I embrace change in a huge way. I’ve walked away from many companies because I was looking for change and they seemed to be stuck in a rut. I’ve walked away from many things in life because of that as well. I try to make a change, but when others aren’t on board, I can’t wait around for it. Life is too short. I’ve thrown myself out of planes, and uprooted my family numerous times (and am in the process of doing that currently!). Change is GOOD….change is what is needed for the future of technology. You need to change with Bob. And if you don’t have your finger on Bob’s pulse (‘cause Bob changes just as much as I do!), you might as well pack it
in. Sure you can make a few bucks in the short run, but the generation coming up moves faster than your marketing department can predict. Move with that generation…with Bob….stay fresh and stay on top of it. I can help you do that…it’s what I love!!
And it’s what worx4you that matters!!
