Every tester has had that moment. You look for guidance on a current problem and end up with advice that feels twenty years old. You find articles on writing test cases in Excel, or long arguments about whether automated testing can ever replace manual testing. It is a little surreal. It is easy to assume […]
The reason so much testing content feels stuck in the past Read More »
The experimenter’s mindset beats the automation mindset A few months ago, someone at a conference asked me whether I thought testers would still have jobs in five years. It wasn’t a joke. You could hear the anxiety in the room, because the arrival of generative AI has reignited a very old fear in our industry:
Why the Experimenter’s Mindset Outlasts Automation in Software Testing Read More »
If you’ve ever tried communicating quality to stakeholders in a planning or review meeting, only to be brushed aside with “let’s move on” or “we’ll deal with it later”, you’ll know how frustrating it feels. It’s not that you wanted to be right for the sake of it. You could see the rework coming. You
I’m heading to Malmö, Sweden soon to give a keynote. Travel planning might sound like the opposite of testing in DevOps, but I’ve found it’s a great place to practise the same habits I use with teams. My framework, Q.E.D., Question, Evidence, Develop, is designed for making better decisions about quality. But it works just
How I plan conference travel like a software experiment Read More »
Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash Burnt Out, Boxed In, and Quietly Looking for a Way Out A few years ago, I was working in a software consultancy, stuck on a team with a client who, despite spending a huge amount of money on “change”, was completely unwilling to actually change. I’d seen versions of
Burnt Out, Boxed In, and Quietly Looking for a Way Out Read More »
Document less, share more: A modern take on test evidence Do we still need test case management tools? In my experience, not really. At least, not in the way most teams are still using them. Test case management tools are everywhere, but they’re not helping us make better decisions. In modern software teams, they’re often
Document less, share more: A modern take on test evidence Read More »
A few weeks ago I got on a video call with Rosie Sherry from the Ministry of Testing to record an episode of the “Leading with Quality” podcast. During this conversation I started musing on why there are so few senior leadership roles for quality. And I loved our chat about, but felt there’s a
Why is there no Chief Quality Officer? Read More »
You know that quality matters, and you care about it deeply.But if you’ve ever raised a concern and been ignored, or flagged a risk only to be brushed off … you also know how demoralising it is to be right and still not be heard. I’ve been there. And I’ve heard the same story from
You don’t need a new title to lead on quality Read More »
The struggle every quality professional knows too well If you’re responsible for quality in your organisation, this scenario probably sounds painfully familiar: You’ve identified critical quality issues that need addressing. You’ve meticulously documented the bugs, you’ve raised concerns about technical debt, and you’ve even suggested process improvements that could prevent these problems. But when you
From frustrated tester to respected quality advisor: The Q.E.D. method Read More »
“What do feelings have to do with quality assurance?” This question emerged from a question on LinkedIn I posted this week, asking QA engineers what feels worse: finding a critical bug right before release, or being known as the person who always blocks releases. While the post generated significant engagement, what truly caught my attention
From Gatekeeper to Guide: Why Emotions Matter in Quality Engineering Read More »
