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The Tao of QA Testing At Any I.T. Org.
On Tao
What is the Tao? The Tao is the Way, the Way of Life, The Way of The Universe.
The Tao I speak of to you today, is not the real Tao, it is only the Tao of QA Testing.
QA is not Life, and QA is not The Universe, yet QA is like Life and like the Universe in that it does exist. Some may say it is even its own strange little universe that has taken on a life of its own.
Look at our supervisor. Why is our leader always brooding? Is it because he is sage? Yes, he is a sage. But, he is also brooding because he is involved in the Ten Thousand Things That Occur In I.T.
On Quality
I once asked my boss, Boss, what is Quality? Quality, she said, is many things. Quality is a product functioning as it should. Quality is a search retrieving the desired results. Quality is a menu bar being intutive. Quality, is software improving throughout its life cycle.
If a link is not linking, then it does not LINK. If a search template is not searching, then it does not SEARCH. If a save is not saving, then it does not SAVE. This is called A Loss In Functionality.
This seems so simple, I said, so why can’t developers get that right the first time? It is simple, she replied, it is one of the Great Mysteries. Perhaps, she said, it is because the developers are also responsible for giving their support to The Ten Thousand Things That Occur In I.T.
When you can pick the pebbles from the minds of end users that tell you what they are really expecting from our testing, you will have learned.
On Assurance
There are many things a tester can be assured of. Some of them she can control. Some of them he cannot control. The only thing he can control is his understanding of the Tao of QA Testing. This is called Going With The Flow Of Things.
A tester can be also be assured of attending meetings one a project begins. First there will be one meeting. One meeting will create two meetings. Two meetings will create three meetings. Three meetings will create the Ten Thousand Meetings That Occur In I.T.
A tester can be assured of working on multiple projects. This is called Running A Team When You Are Short Staffed.
A tester can be assured of testing in Unix even if she knows little of Unix. A tester can be assured of testing in DOS even if he knows little of DOS. A tester can be assured of having CDs brought to him to be tested in four hours.
But how can a tester assure quality on so many things? It is simple; we are not hired because we are clever at Unix; we are not hired here because we know everything about DOS; we are not hired here because we can make magic with CDs; we are hired here because we have proved one thing in our previous positions; we have shown that we can learn The Tao Of QA Testing.
The Way of the Great Tao is to give to take from those who have too much and give to those who have too little. The Way of Man is to take from those who have too little and give to those who have too much. Since The Tao Of QA Testing is a part of The Way of Man, a Tester can expect that at times his boss will give him more work, when he is already doing too much, while others in his organization spend all day on the Internet, because they are doing too little. A QA Manager can also expect for his workers to be given more work even though they are doing too much, while other staffs take long lunches and play Solitaire on their machines, because they are doing too little. This is called A Reason For Going Postal.
The Ten Thousand Things That Occur In I.T. can overwhelm a tester. But a tester should not let himself be overwhelmed. A tester does not TEST, he does TESTING. As long as The Ten Thousand Things That Occur In I.T. exist, a tester will never be at a loss for work, or worry about finding another job. This is called A Strange Sense Of Job Security.
On Testing
The bugs that developers can name are not the real bugs. The real bugs will reveal themselves to the tester during testing. First, the developer says there are no defects. Then, the tester finds one. One bug begets Two. Two, beget Three. Three become The Ten Thousand Things Crawling In The Defect Database.
Sometimes a tester may want to test that. But the developer will tell you you do not have to test that. So, the tester may feel for a moment that he truly has nothing to test. But the Tao Of QA Testing tells us that there is always something to test. So instead of testing That, test THIS.
If testing is done with an iron hand, the developers will become clever. They will find work-arounds for even the most critical of defects. If testing is done with a light hand, the developers will say WE DID IT! We found the bugs that exist. Therefore, one should test with a light hand when time permits, and only test with an iron hand when you are four days late for your deadline.
A developer will come to a tester with a product but no requirements. Where are requirements, a tester may ask. Look--they cannot be seen; listen---they cannot be heard; touched—--they cannot be found. When you can pick the pebbles from the mind of developers that tell you what they are really asking for, you will have learned.
I have worked on many projects. I have helped build and stage objects for CM in ClearCase. I have created vobs and views for CM and moved data across servers. I have helped in performance testing, regression testing, and functional testing. I have edited Test Plans and Procedures for products. I have written checklists for testing a CD. I have even done QA on our newer web products, and tried to write a list for the acronyms. These are examples of The Ten Thousand Things in I.T.
My wife once asked me this: how can one man know so many things? My response is, I do not know. I am not an expert of anything. In fact, I know nothing. I only know one of thing; I know of The Tao Of QA Testing. Part of that Tao, is Change. The other, is Flexibility. A third, is Dealing With The Ten Thousand Things That Occur in I.T.