The Test Test

re: The Test Test

Mark — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:10:24 GMT

Thanks for the story, after I read it I can say without reservations that I am at the right place. Your assessment equals that of myself (The test manager) and the Sr. Management.

Great post, I will refer other to it in the future.

re: The Test Test

Philk — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:26:50 GMT

Ouch, my last company would have scored ZERO

No wonder I left

Would be interesting to do a survey and see what scores you get and what the average is

re: The Test Test

Inder P Singh — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:05:09 GMT

Thought-provoking post! I think that your questions are also relevant where testers and development belong to/ are different organizations.

It might be possible for a tester to influence the conversion of a negative answer to positive. Presenting one's case well with data to substantiate the case may help this process along.

Thank you.

re: The Test Test

Catherine Powell — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:07:48 GMT

This is a great list. I would want to add one more thing to your question 5 ("Do developers value test?"):

Do testers value developers?

You ask the question in the inverse, and I think it's important, but the walls and the general angst about test in an organization can be built by the organization..... and also by test. There's an old adage that when there's a problem between two people, it's never 100% one person's fault. I think that's the case here as well: the tester's attitude can create failure, just like the organization's attitude can create failure.

As usual I had more to say than would fit in a comment, so I put it here: http://blog.abakas.com/2008/08/dont-be-part-of-problem.html

re: The Test Test

kiran badi — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:02:34 GMT

hmm,i am getting almost 3 , but as a Performance contractor hardly these points makes any difference unless you work for companies like microsoft.

re: The Test Test

JakeBrake — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:17:44 GMT

Thank you Alan for a terrific post.

re: The Test Test

alanpa — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:24:25 GMT

Thanks Jake - I haven't heard from you in a while, and it's nice to see you're still reading my blog.

Catherine - thanks for the comments (and the follow up post). I've added your blog to my blog roll (let that be a hint to any other blogers who read my blog - if you post a comment, I'll read your blog!).

It's purposely a tough test, and I'm not surprised to hear of folks with low scores. But I will tell you that there are 9's and 10's out there if you look hard enough, and that putting in the extra effort into finding a 9 or 10 is absolutely worth it.

re: The Test Test

Philk — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:51:06 GMT

Follow up question to your comment above - what score was Microsoft when you joined and did you give them "The Alan Test" ?

re: The Test Test

alanpa — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:42:20 GMT

Great question Philk. Before I answer, I'd like to point out that even today, there is variation in scores between teams at Microsoft.

Also keep in mind that I started at ms over 13 years ago (probably the point of your question). Anyway - I joined the networking team on win95. Our team was a 3 perhaps a 3.75 because about 3/4the developers valued the test team.

I don't get to do much testing on the EE team, but my last team was a solid 8 working toward a 10.

re: The Test Test

Philk — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:12:42 GMT

so there's an idea for the next blog, how to go from 3 to 8 and 8 to 10...

Insights from the Test Test

notes and rants — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:38:53 GMT

Every once in a while, I write a post that gets a comment - my last post (the Test Test ) had half a

Microsoft - Our Testers go to 11!

notes and rants — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:09:05 GMT

(thanks to my colleague, John, for the Spinal Tap match - it's perfect even if not every test team at

Schedules

notes and rants — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:57:39 GMT

More tips on how to go from 1-11 on the Test Test . Test #2 on the Test is " The test team owns

A place for testers

notes and rants — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:30:39 GMT

Not a physical place - but an organizational place. Test #3 of the Test Test says that the test manager

Value and Trust

notes and rants — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:42:21 GMT

Test #5 of the Test Test asks if the development team values the test team. Catherine pointed out that

Oh, Give me a Home...

notes and rants — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:43:42 GMT

I remember visiting a company once where the testers were lined up at desks along the wall...in a long

Staying organized

notes and rants — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:07:11 GMT

Test #7 of the Test Test asks if testers use test case management and source control tools. The only

Trustworthy Testing

notes and rants — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 06:54:17 GMT

I think I can lump some ideas of how to improve #8 and #10 (Are tests built daily, and does test code

Creating a Culture of Quality

notes and rants — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:51:44 GMT

The 11th (and final) question in the Test Test asks if the organization has a culture of quality. Does