Testing the Waterhouse

I think when testing we sometimes come across a showstopper of a bug, that would stop the release in its tracks, what we don't want to have is a problem where the product owner isn't approachable, or won't listen to the full effects of the bug... This is where the following quote from A Few Good Men comes into play... You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!! We need to be careful how we communicate bugs, and not just showstoppers, if we raise a bug that isn't really that severe, but paint a picture of it being an absolute showstopper, well then we could get into a situation of the boy who cries wolf. We don't want to be in the situation where the business can't handle the truth about a bug, and you end up disguising the severity of it for whatever reason.

Many people are unfortunate enough to be in a job that they don't like, I won't use the word hate, as that's a strong word, but I'm sure it applies to some people. I'm lucky, in that when it boils down to it, I do enjoy doing what I do, I enjoy coming to work (and not just to get out the house!) I recently spent time off from work for 3 and a bit weeks, I must say I missed work, I missed the routine, but not only that I missed the people, the actual work I do, the challenges and just keeping my brain active. Sure enough we have bad days where we don't want to come back to work, and maybe the fact that I enjoy QA so much is about the environment I am in, and the people I work with, but I'm lucky to have worked in a number of places and enjoyed almost every one for different reasons. Drilling down into specifics, "Testing and QA", I thought what is it I love about it? Hence this blog post.... When I first started out in testing about 6 years ...

I like to think of the above quote can be applied to newly formed agile teams starting up, and the relationships between the members of the team, the Developers, the QA members, the scrum master and anyone else connected to the team. Obviously not every team succeeds and blossoms into a beautiful relationship, but I don't think I've been on a team where there hasn't been at least the foundations of a good solid relationship in the team. Maybe I've been blessed, but I like to think that every one buys into what we are trying to do, and I also like to think that we all help members of the team come out of their shell by talking to them and discussing with them any problems that we have in a way that's not condescending and just generally a friendly manner.