Some years ago, there was a disagreement within the company where I was working. The Test Manager and Customer Support Manager wanted to focus on learning about customers’ problems and solving them by improving the discoverability and usability of features. In contrast, the Product Owner wanted to engage customers by creating new features. I was …
Tag Archives: Management
To copy a testing process “is to invite disaster”
Sometimes, we hear about a company that creates high-quality software. The company has great testing and quality processes, so we think about copying their ideas to improve our process. “If anyone were to study such a company without theory, i.e. without knowing what questions to ask,” they “would be tempted to copy the company”[1]. The …
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What training did you get when you became a Test Manager?
From conversations I have had with friends in the UK and the US, I have found that it is a common experience for people not to receive management training when they first become test managers. I received training as a manager and have learned that I was fortunate to do so. A test manager or …
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A great resource for leaders in test and quality – A review of “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn” by Katie Anderson
The Toyota leader Isao Yoshino learned many lessons during his career. Katie Anderson shares these lessons in “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn “, which I have just read with the Profound Book Club. Toyota has made so many innovations in quality. If you are a Test\QE\QA Manager or Lead or want to become one …
My new guiding principles are helping me to automate tests.
It is useful to have guiding principles on how to be a good employee, teammate and tester. I work in teams that describe themselves as lean or agile and so I am interested in learning what lean and agile are. Learning about how lean and agile came about helps me understand them. John Willis has …
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Whoever you are, whatever you have achieved you should recognise the achievements of others
Dr Joseph Juran rose from poverty to be an internationally respected management consultant who specialised in quality. His work included popularising the use of the Pareto Principle and creating The Juran Trilogy. Juran focussed on the role of management in quality. He wrote and contributed to many books including six volumes of Juran’s Quality Handbook. …
It is better if we build quality into the product instead of trying to test quality in
“Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.” [1] is one of W. Edwards Deming’s 14 Points for Management. Inspection can be defined as testing after development has been completed. Some people have interpreted Deming’s point as …
Get insights from “The World of W. Edwards Deming” by Cecelia S. Kilian
Cecelia S. Kilian was W. Edwards Deming‘s long-term secretary. She created this book which contains her memories, and many curated documents from Deming. I read this book with the Profound Deming Book Club and it made me think about why I am interested in Deming. The details of Deming’s life are interesting, however I am …
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Drive out fear to improve psychological safety
We need psychologically safe workplaces. Testers, and all other members of development teams, need to feel safe enough to be able to ask questions and express opinions about the project we are working on. The need for psychological safety is not a new issue. W. Edwards Deming saw it as an important issue. Drive out …
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