The Agile Testing Days program always includes a vast range of topics. Some are perennial favorites, some are totally original. This second post about stuff I learned at Agile Testing Days 2023 will give you a taste of that....
The Agile Testing Days program always includes a vast range of topics. Some are perennial favorites, some are totally original. This second post about stuff I learned at Agile Testing Days 2023 will give you a taste of that.
Monday at ATD is tutorial day. Janet Gregory and I co-facilitated our all-day tutorial, “Holistic Testing: Effective Strategies for Agile Teams”. We had 20 delightful participants. They formed four-person teams to energetically engage in many exercises. We practiced techniques for testing activities all the way around the infinite software development life cycle. One fun fact: we had 14 different countries and five different continents represented in the room!
Maaike Brinkhof – “My tale of playing the Testing Game”
I was a bit worn out after the tutorial excitement. And re-energized by the keynote and bonus session that wrapped up the day! Maaike Brinkhof took us through her RPG testing game that hilariously illustrated a tale that’s all too familiar to many of us. Her testing hero fought her way up the levels of influence and rank in a typically dysfunctional software organization.
Maaike explained how testers can collaborate and find allies when there are enemies in the “manager class”. She encouraged us to learn from other people, talk about what is difficult, what can be better. And she was straightforward and honest about the situations where we try, and fail, to effect change. When we get to that losing battle, we have to back down to where we can still work effectively. And if we can’t find that workable face – as they say, if you can’t change your organization, change your organization.
I heard people discussing this keynote and identifying with Maiike’s story all week. It was the perfect talk to kick off a week of learning and fun.
Veerle Verhagen – “Mini-Missions: Making the everyday exciting”
Mini-missions are one of my top takeaways from ATD 2023! Veerle explained a novel way to combat stress. Mini-missions are side quests that help reduce anxiety, add motivation, and shift focus to achieving (possibly unexpected) results. For example, challenge yourself to use “juggernaut” in a sentence during a conference talk. Veerle emphasized that mini-missions shouldn’t add to your stress. One example she gave: you want to take more walks to improve your physical and mental health, but it’s hard to get motivated. Telling yourself “I need to walk” may just feel like more pressure. Instead you could have a mini mission like, “I need to take pictures of birds!”
A mini-missions is a small, fun, actionable, low-stakes quests – not a “to do” list. Veerle invited us to think of
what’s causing us stress and what mini missions we could take on. I was sitting next to the awesome keynote speaker and testing practitioner Erika Chestnut. I told her that I was stressed about the workshop on using AI for testing I was co-facilitating later in the week. She instantly came up with two perfect mini-missions: Use the word “juggernaut” in a sentence when conducting the workshop, and find a fun question to ask ChatGPT. I did succeed with the “juggernaut” mission. Once we got busy in the workshop, though, I forgot to ask ChatGPT the question I had prepared: “Tell me about testers who love donkeys”.
Tobias Geyer and Maik Nogens: “Ethics in Software Testing: from theory to practice”
Ethics is something we don’t talk about enough as we build software, at least, in my experience. So I especially looked forward to this workshop with Tobias and Maik. Each of our table groups of four people were given scenarios and had to grade them individually on a scale – was it an ethical decision? We then had to try to come to a gruop consensus. Sometimes this was easy, sometimes it seemed impossible. Each of us had a unique perspective. When I really listened to perspectives that seemed opposite of mine – I saw that they were reasonable. There’s definitely a skill set for arguing ethics. I think it’s something we should practice frequently!
An interesting takeaway for me is that IEEE and ACM each have a common code of ethics. ACM’s has been updated more recently. These can help guide us when we observe what we feel are ethics violations. A lot of the workshop pertained to situations where an individual may be put into a whistleblower role. We were advised – Don’t go with your gut. Know how to escalate ethical problems in your organization. Get hard evidence safely and externally.
Zuzi Sochova: “Everyone is a leader”
I’ve long believed that each of us can be a leader, regardless of our job title or whether we have people reporting to us. I was inspired by Zuzi’s advice on how to be a good coach and leader. One thing that sticks with me: “Agile is not the goal – it’s just the best way to achieve it.” In her experience, in order to spark change, a leader changes first. The organization will follow. I’ve personally tried to lead by example in my teams, and this approach has worked for me too. There’s a lot more to it though. Good leaders establish feedback loops, by coaching and facilitating.
Zuzi urged us to have a dream, think of a path to success, and help people grow towards it. Successful leadership includes collaborating and co-ownership, trust and enabling, transparency, and building good relationships. We work in complex systems. We need to listen to the system’s voice. Balance mindset and structure, with experiments. And as we know, but sometimes forget, failure is learning.
As a leader and coach, Zuzi advised, don’t give the team a solution. Ask questions and listen. Help them set goals. Create space for them to experiment. These are skills I continually try to hone for myself. I bought Zuzi’s book, The Agile Leader, at the book fair later that day. I look forward to reading this for inspiration in the new year!
I’ll be sharing more ATD unicorn goodness, stay tuned!
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