EuroSTAR Software Testing Conference 2013 presentation on Curiosity Killed The Cat... (a case study) by Anne Marie Charrett. See more at: http://conference.eurostarsoftwaretesting.com/past-presentations/

1. Curiosity Killed the Cat….
(a case study)
Anne-Marie Charrett, Testing Times
@CHARRETT
www.eurostarconferences.com
@esconfs
#esconfs

2. But what kills curiosity?
This case study will be a
springboard into a talk and then
discussion on some ways we
'kill curiosity' within our teams. I
will share some ‘Lessons
Learned’ from the case study.
Using my experience with test
team transformation I’ll
offer some pointers on how to
create teams that encourage
testers to question without
compromising on project
deadlines and goals.

3. The Story

4. Objectives and Goals
“As we discussed, our key priority is to bolster the existing
testers and to help broaden the testing capability across the
rest of the team with a view to understanding what we need to
do to achieve a viable testing capability preferably without
increasing our dedicated testing resource levels.”

5. Coaching philosophy
• A test coach
• Facilitate change
• To be dispensable

6. Challenges
• Testers felt they had no support
• Testers felt they weren’t listened to
• Excessive points for testing
• Stories not making release
• Difficult to accommodate change in priorities
• HTML breaking code in merge
• Hidden work

7. Some wins
• Testers worked together to solve
the problems
• Brainstorming sessions between
projects
• Developed cross project
knowledge
• Introduced coaching
• Revised automation strategy

8. Quality Wins
• Agreement on Quality
• Definition of Done
• Checking & Testing
• Exploratory Testing
• Team ‘owns’ the problem

9. Smells
• No Stand Ups
• Poor Stories
• Cliques
• Bugs not being fixed
• Little communication
• Process Change
• Strategy Change
• No Scrum Master

10. Testers
Afraid to speak up
Afraid to question stories
Afraid to suggest change
Afraid to get bugs closed
Afraid to question developers

11. Blind spots
• I made assumptions about my role
• I made assumptions about the company
• I made assumptions about the team members
• I made assumptions about the testers ability
• I made assumptions about my own ability
• I didn’t see how the culture was affecting me
• I assumed that demonstrating quality testing would show
value

13. What kills curiosity?
• Being intimidated
• Lack of Understanding
• Lack of Authority
• Lack of Clarity
• Lack of Trust
• Lack of Knowledge
• Lack of appreciation of culture
• Arrogance
• Cliques
• I wasn’t a good fit
• You can’t if its already dead

14. Discussion

15. Culture can kill curiosity
“Culture is a pattern of shared tacit assumptions that has
learned by a group, that has worked well enough to be
considered valid ….”
--Edgar Schein

16. Culture @ ACME
• Don’t communicate
• Keep your head down
• Jiggling is good
• The business is not to
be trusted
• Testers offer little value

17. LESSONS LEARNED

18. Be a Servant
Ask their opinion about what was
needed
Ask their opinion about testing
Ask what isn’t working for them
Ask how can testers help?
Hold sessions explaining testing
Ask if you can help review the
stories

19. Other Lessons Learned
Review goals regularly
You can’t change culture on your
own
Power handed over is hard to
regain
Delegate versus abdicate
Be humble – look to serve
Be vulnerable
Work with culture to achieve your
goals

20. Test Team Transformation
• Get buy in from the top
• Demonstrate value
• Encourage Testers to lead change
• Encourage testers to contribute to problem solving
• Allow for failure
• Review goals with stakeholders
• Watch for your blind spots
• Watch for culture!
• Approach with humility
• Step in where necessary
• Bring in people they respect (Use people they respect)
• Know your own goals

21. Thank You!