After a colleague pointed out I'm not 29 years old anymore I had to revisit my About page. While reading the rest of the text this sentence made me stop...
Next step is to spread the knowledge I've obtained and be a thinking practitioner who can hopefully do what James once did for me.
I wrote that sentence over 4 years ago, before any tester outside Linköping knew I existed. So I took a moment just to reflect.
"Spread the knowledge I've obtained"
I've been teaching students in Software Testing at a vocational university for 1,5 years, I've given numerous lectures, presentations and workshops on various topics at conferences (national and international), meetups and at my workplaces and I'm now test coach at Verisure, a role in which I'm basically paid to share the knowledge I've acquired so far. Finally I've, for most of the period, been a fairly active blogger.
"Be a thinking practitioner" Transpection Tuesday, my blog, my peer conference appearances, my many dinner discussions with top notch testers (most recently Göran Bakken), my (former) activity on Twitter all add to the "thinking" part while my testing and test related experiments at Ericsson, Verisure and Zenterio, as well as my effort during Software Testing World Cup all add to the "practitioner" part.
Most important though: The two are not separate processes. The best example of this is probably Transpection Tuesday. During Transpection Tuesday, Helena and I often discuss a challenge one or both of us have, together we work out potential solutions or experiments to run, we go back to work to try these solutions/run the experiments and finally we share/ask for help to evaluate the results at a second Transpection Tuesday. Like I said, one process.
"Who can hopefully do what James once did for me"
After graduation I got emails from two former students, both made me feel I've accomplished exactly this...
... hmm, is it raining inside or why are my eyes moist all of a sudden...
On top of that other former students, testers and other colleagues (most recently a developer) have all helped me understand my efforts to inspire, guide and mentor have actually made a difference.
It's not without pride I say: In four years I've wildly exceeded my own expectations based on my memories of what I hoped to achieve 2012. Not just my expectations for the next four years but potentially for my whole career. Shit... I need a break.
... pause music...
What's my "next step"
Took quite a bit of thinking but here's my updated "next step", or mission if you prefer that:
I've presented to, spoken with, inspired, coached and mentored testers in testing and quality. I want to continue this but to a broader audience, in ways different from what has been done before and inspire others to present, speak, inspire, coach and mentor as well.
Clarification:
Broader audience refers to e.g. developers, students (not studying testing), managers etc.
If you happen to read this in few years, do remind me to report my status, please.
* The links are currently broken, unfortunately I cannot fix this until I'm back at work since I don't have the files on my home computer anymore. Stay tuned... And credit to Srinivas for pointing this out!, thank you!
Feedback
One cool thing about presenting at a conference like CAST was all the feedback I got. First Ilari, Bernie Schroeder and Martin Hynie gave me some great things to think about/improve in the way I was presenting (avoid looking back at my slides, tweaks to my body language, tweaks to tempo and pauses). Simon Schrijver, Erik Davis, Phil Kirkham and a whole bunch of other people really boosted my confidence with their encouraging comments afterwards. Peter Walen, Brett Hinton, Jonathan together with several others asked brilliant questions and/or added valuable content during open season that helped me understand my topic even better and finally a handful of people from the audience shared stories related to my talk. All of you who attended: You really helped making my first ever conference presentation better both for me and, I'm sure, for the other attendees! Thank you!
Another kind of feedback was the recording. Listening to that helped me realize:
It took me a while to get the energy going
I had some annoying "ehh" and "and" early on
My flow was really nice
I should not interrupt the facilitator
I've always been a bit annoyed with how my voice sounds but listening to the recording has helped me appreciate it instead.
I felt several pauses was just a fraction too short (for me)
Well rehearsed parts did not sound "flat" or "boring", rather the opposite, so I'm very much questioning if I can "rehears too much" which some people warned me about before.
26:13 (masochist "joke")... WTF! Still hurts to hear myself say... whatever I tried to say .)
I felt my energy raised every time I made some kind of imitation (THANK YOU HELENA)
The tempo was nice, could have varied it a bit more for greater effect but better than I expected
I hardly rambled / repeated myself at all... once again I think rehearsals played a key role.
Forgotten part
Remember how I added balance in my 10 second summary of Yes Man (31:10 in the video)? Last winter I realized I couldn't just answer yes to everything. Sure cool things happened but that required me to spend quite a bit of time away from my family. That, after a while, became too much time away. So family has turned out to be something I need to think about before answering yes to too many cool things. Your balance might be something else like time with friends, time to sleep, travel costs, mental energy etc. No matter what it is, keep it in mind.
But that small addition was all I missed! Hurray!
Answering a few questions
I got a few questions I couldn't answer during the open season that I promised to get back to when I had been thinking a bit more so here we go:
Jonathan: Was there anything on you list you tried but you completely failed at?
Just before I started the list, at my former work, I tried to change how we tested in my team to make it more "Context Driven". I failed in so many ways, more or less putting the team in a position where noone knew what was tested, what was not tested, how well the testing had went and there was not a single document or statement that could help anyone figure that out, mostly because I didn't know either.
Later, actually partly thanks to the list, all that turned into one of my coolest adventures as a tester, but up until that transformation occurred it was a major mess up.
My way of dealing with it back then was to try and cover it up, which is not a good approach by the way. Afterwards though I quickly turned it into a learning experience trying to figure out why I messed up, what I could learn from it and what positive changes actually came out of it. I think that's my general approach to failures, accept what happened, accept I can't undo anything, try to learn as much as possible and move on.
Peter Walen: What is it you have done that you kind of wished you hadn't done
I don't regret anything I've done to myself or others as long as I or whoever I did something to, feel happy about their current situation. And if someone else feels bad I try to focus on what I can do to improve their situation rather than blame myself for something I can't change anyway. So far that strategy has worked out.
The story that still bugs me the most, that I can think about now, is when I was caught lying in like 5th grade. It was rather innocent, our teacher asked us about the temperature where we lived (don't ask me why). I lived far out on the countryside and we quite often had a degree or two colder than in the city. So I strategically grabbed a chair so that I would be asked last and always answered 1-3 degrees lower than everybody else. One day a classmate outsmarted me though and answered a ridiculously low temperature. I didn't notice the temperature he suggested was like ten degrees lower than everyone else's so I just answered like two degrees lower than his... and suddenly everyone started to laugh.
But like all the other stories that taught me a valuable lesson so I've come to terms with it... still hurts a tiny bit to admit though...
... From a testing perspective I can't really think of any... maybe that I didn't start to care about testing earlier but once again, my current position rocks so can't really feel bad about that either.
Simon Schrijver: How do you rebound from mistakes
I (and Simon himself!) answered that during the presentation but please check out the previous answers for some additional details.
Additional credits Pekka Marjamäki
The kind and brilliant tester who offered me coaching before RST.
He will be speaking at EuroSTAR! Check him out!
Johan Jonasson
The person who helped me find my local test community, helped me survive my first peer conference and was part of founding Let's Test, what's not to like about him .)
Pierre Rasmussen
Mentioned during open season as the friend who shared his weekly reflections on Twitter. I have been too inactive for too long to say if he still does but no matter what he's a brilliant test-infected programmer worth checking out.
In my last post I promised to release a sneak peek of my CAST presentation. Even though I'm infamous for being too optimistic and missing deadlines, that promise will actually hold true.
When I heard about this conference it immediately grabbed my attention. It was just a train ride away, the tester's I wanted to meet would be there and the general setup felt spot on for me.
So I prepared myself to just bash into my manager's office and demand he sent me to this amazing conference but... that never happened.
Instead I convinced myself, I wasn't ready.
Just over a year has passed but in just a few days I will present at CAST; an opportunity I got thanks to writing an abstract just 8 months after missing Let's Test. Today I am the tester, I before Let's Test told others I wanted to be but never dared to become... All that is quite a transformation and how that transformation could happen is what I will walk you through.
Actual content
There are of course a million things contributing to this change, many of which are highly context dependent. But I will highlight four that I think have been key, and try to extract as much practical and useful content out of those as I can. I will actually not list them here but in my 2012 reflections, you can see all of them in action and some of them described. The big difference between that blog series and this presentation is I won't focus on what I actually did (like reading blogs, meet testers, change job etc.) but rather the mechanics that made them happen. To explain that I need an example so even though I said I wouldn't, here is one of the four "chapter": My skill development list. In the presentation I will explain the list in great detail including what made it work, what problems I encountered and how I dealt with them.
May - Reaching out
When I was young (about two years ago) I started a blog. It was in Swedish, the topic was "make me famous" and it was gaping empty. In May I decided to pick it up again so I started writing a few posts, cursed myself for not being a brilliant writer anymore and finally translated the least horrible parts to English. My hope was that writing would somehow magically improve me as a tester and make people love me (I keep presenting myself as the loneliest man on earth).
The latter didn't really work out, the former though, even with the lack of magic, was spot on!
Putting thoughts into words is a crucial skill! I'll explain why when we get to November but for now, just shut up and believe me.
Helps you spot gaps and problems in your reasoning.
Helps you raise questions you previously weren't aware of.
Great practice to become a better observer.
Great practice to better present your results.
The comments you get can be provide key insights.
Helped me learn to write in a more concise way.
When writing down a problem the solution has a tendency to just show up (a bit like when you ask someone for help and as you put the problem into words you realize the solution... but without the someone).
A good blog is great to point at when applying for a job.
Writing skills are always important.
Helps you process things you've learned/experienced.
Helps you realize you're progressing.
Writing a post you feel really good about helps boosting motivation.
Sharing your experiences will put you in contact with interesting testers.
But the blog was actually not the most important initiative in May...
I chickened out on Let's Test but thanks to that conference I started following Johan Jonasson. One day, late in May, he made a retweet that would completely change the rest of this year. The tweet was about an EAST meetup in June. I joined the LinkedIn group and signed up...
June - Meeting non-imaginary people EAST is an open network for software testers in the region I live in (Östergötland, Sweden). Once a month they meet up to listen to presentations and discuss testing in general. Going there was amazing! For the first time I was surrounded by brilliant, passionate testers, just the kind I wanted to become myself. Even though they gave me serious Let's Test envy, not to mention Rapid Software Testing envy, I loved every second.
Taking the step to meet others weren't really intimidating to me but, since I'm aware I'm an extrovert, I imagine it would be the challenge of a lifetime to some. If it's any consolation I was greeted warmly and helped along the moment I stepped through the door and I'm sure that's what most meetups look like. If still intimidated, try getting a colleague to join as well. I can tell you, if you make it there, it will change the speed you progress and your motivation in ways you can't imagine! Even if you just go there and listen you'll pick up so many interesting insights just from how great testers talk about and approach testing. When you build confidence enough (or, as in my case, can't shut up) you'll also discover a great chance to get quality feedback on your own problems as well as the power of having your ideas tossed back an forth between smart people. Finally, making friends that have a great interest in what you do for several hours a day is kinda awesome.
... Ohh, one more thing I forgot to mention. Other testers will love to hear about what you do, what you've experienced and how you deal with testing at the company you work so don't worry about being the quiet one, no one turns attention to, people will (maybe that was more intimidating than encouraging).
Inspired by the meetup and a brilliant presentation by Tobbe Ryber (unfortunately the slides seems to have been removed from the Nordic Testing Days' homepage) I created my Skill Development List. First it was just a silly list to make me feel good about my accomplishments but soon it turned into a tremendous resource for motivation and direction. I really urge you to make a similar plan and keep it updated as you progress, it's valuable no matter what level you're currently at! (ignorant people are the only ones dumb enough to ever be done learning).
I'm kind of an eccentric person when I really put my mind into something (like that's not already obvious). So, since i couldn't wait for the summer to end, I tackled the fear of screwing up/be rejected and planned an EAST meetup myself. However I choose a pub instead of a conference room to up the odds of people forgetting any bad parts (worked by the way). It turned out just fine and was a great boost to my confidence! Most important lesson? It's not hard to arrange a meetup, it just takes some courage (the initiative itself is enough be appreciated, a great end result is just a bonus).
Mindset
Hey, mindset is not a month! Maybe not in your calender... Screw it, no it's not, but it's crucial.
My mindset about testing, learning and thinking has changed a lot during this year. Here are some key mindsets that have helped me tremendously:
I demand certain standards and am ready to fight for and make sacrifices to uphold them. I no longer accept fake work, low quality efforts or unmotivated constraints.
I'm responsible for the environment around me, I don't expect anyone else to fix it for me.
I don't fake understanding. Even if a question might hurt my status I need to ask it if I don't understand, simply because I want to be a pro not make others believe I'm a pro.
I accept challenges even when public humiliation is almost guaranteed because I know challenges can teach me so much.
I always perform tasks the best I can, even when it's not demanded, because I want to be proud of my actions.
I accept that, even though proud, I will never be fully satisfied with my results because I will always be on the lookout for improvements.
I won't accept to save myself by using silly excuses, blame others or hide behind papers! When I've done a bad job I'm accountable for that.
I will not limit myself by what's considered taboo. If I find great potential for improvement and no one can come up with a valid reasons not to I will practice "professional disobedience" if necessary (break rules, within reasonable limits, to allow going forward).
I will not pretend I've done a good job just because someone else says so. If I feel I've faked something it's a personal failure, nothing can change that.
I want to empower and inspire the people around me by helping out, drive ideas, be a role model, spread my knowledge and support good ethics.
I listen to anyone interested in sharing their experiences and I try to help them build on those but the latter is secondarily to the former.
Most of them are far from second nature to me yet (I still fake understanding and make up excuses for instance) while other more or less are (most notably high standards, which I'm really proud of). When some of these start to become your most important guides all the things around like respect, knowledge, skill and motivation will come by itself and it won't even feel like you're putting in an effort, that's why this is so important.
Insights so far
The scariest, most challenging actions often present the greatest reward.
The initiatives you don't take are the ones that will haunt you forever (why didn't I sign up for Let's Test, why?!). Failures? If nothing else they make great stories.
Share your experiences with others, it helps making valuable connections, get feedback/insights/new perspectives and it helps you learn to explain what you're doing.
Blog, blog blog
Great testers won't ignore you, they will embrace you!
Plan a local testing meetup, it will be educational, earn you respect and is a great confidence booster.
Passion, inspiration and motivation rubs off, meet passionate people to become passionate.
The sooner you meet great testers the sooner you'll become one yourself.
Mindset, mindset, mindset
Get yourself a plan of what you want to do (Skill Development List) and how you want to act (the list of mindsets further up).
After reading this inspiring blog post (about an, probably even more, inspiring keynote by Tobbe Ryber) and long been fascinated by the 101 goals in 1001 days concept, I got the idea of listing the things I want to do to become a more proficient software tester.
You can find the current result in the page listing (skill development list). The idea is to continuously improve the list so any comments on the items are very appreciated. Also, in case you've done something similar, I would really love if you send me a link in the comments section.
Anyway, the list is (currently) divided into 6 sections. Knowledge lists things that would help me improve general knowledge about software testing (theory). I've not listed common stuff I more or less do daily in this section, like "watch presentations" or "read testing articles".
Since I have a long history of "reading stuff that I've then not put into practice" I've added a Practice section. The idea is maily to remind me that learning stuff is fun but the real value is often in actually doing them.
Something I've started to value a lot recently is Social Networking. I found a lot of inspiration in the discussions during my first EAST meetup and I'm looking forward to continue meeting up with other people interested in software testing, especially people not working for the same company as I am.
As a former public speaker and recurring educational writer I've realized teaching is one of the best ways, at least for me personally, to really make things stick. I also hope I can give something back to a testing community that has already helped me a lot. So the section Spread Knowledge is about stuff I can do to others that also helps me excel.
Finally there's the sections Other (simply stuff that doesn't fit any of the other sections) and Continuous/Ambiguous which is stuff that, in one way or another, is hard to really set checkpoints for. Details about these areas will instead end up as individual blog posts.
So what's the purpose with this list? To keep me focused! To make sure I don't end up in the situation I once was where testing didn't feel interesting and exciting. I guess I'll have to evaluate the usefulness in 1001 days.
... regarding 1001 days, before someone corrects me, this list does not contain 101 items, there's no time limit and some of the items are ambiguous thus making this far from a 101 items in 1001 days kind of thing, it's only inspired by it.
