Have you ever thought what kind of legacy you are creating in your role? I believe it’s important for software testers to regularly stop and think about the purpose of testing and what kind of legacy they’re creating.
Recently I read the book ‘Legacy’ by James Kerr, a book based on the New Zealand Rugby team and how they developed and focused on key values to become a remarkedly successful team. Legacy is traditionally defined as something transmitted from the past and has somehow changed the universe. For us mere mortal testers, I like the idea of leaving a footprint, making subtle but positive changes in testing, modest improvements, either in the workplace or in the wider testing community. I noticed many of the values from the Rugby team are applicable to software testing and test teams. With 20 years of working with software testers across a number of organisations and industries, I will share my experience and stories on how implementing these key values can improve testing and leave a lasting and positive legacy.
Here are some of the key values I will present:
- Start with humility – being humble means you’re open to new ideas and learning. When’s the last time you tried a new software testing tool?
- Test with Purpose – Why do we test? Why is it important? Many testers know the how of testing but find it difficult to articulate the Why of testing.
- Invent your own language – develop your communication skills, if it helps make up your own definitions of software testing terms, or steal it from other testers.
- Keep it real – make testing transparent, visualise and communicate it. Focus on integrity and honesty. Better People, make better testers
- Keep a blue head – control your attention. Learn focus and defocusing techniques to increase your testing abilities.
- Embrace expectations – keep pushing the boundaries of ‘realistic’ goals and objectives. Aim higher, you never know, you might even achieve it!
