Chronicles Of Testing

During a recent interview, I was asked, “Why does your resume state that you lead with empathy?” My straightforward response was that I do not know any other way to lead. The leaders I admire include Marie Curie, who carried radioactive materials in her pocket for the greater good, and Shankar Nag, who proactively undertook the responsibility of traveling abroad to study modern transportation systems without waiting for formal assignments. To elaborate, I choose to lead with empathy deliberately. This perspective, which some may find uncommon, arises from my own experiences with managers who lacked empathy. As one interviewer insightfully remarked, I learned a great deal about leadership by observing “how not to lead.” Many of us share this experience, having worked under managers who, at the slightest disagreement, became a significant impediment—transforming what should have been a positive and enriching learning environment into a challenging one. If, as an interviewer, you inquire ...

10 things I learned from being agile. I do not have to worry about knowing everything about the product/feature right at the beginning. I can take my time to learn the product feature by feature and I get to learn together with the team and from many minds. Being agile is almost like studying the self, what works for me and what doesn’t. And to learn dynamically to make necessary changes when needed. Learn on the GO what technique/ method/approach works for that context and discard the rest. Switch to the right sources of knowledge. It's about also being a pendulum when needed, shift left/right to deliver. To not invest in the unnecessary, but to question and learn rather than mere adherence. To g o figure out who can help, to have my own point of contacts of who can help and network with the learned. This means - To be DRIVEN. Agile - Is not the ultimate rule book of do’s and don’ts. Quick and dynamic is what it makes me in how I begin to do things (requirement gatheri...

Pair Testing Pair testing is for all in the team - inclusive of testers and non-testers Pair testing is not a measure of who can test better but what and how we can learn (and continue to) from with who we pair with Pair testing has helped me to learn what I need to learn, how having  more heads can help me, how not to test and how else we can test better Pair testing has nothing to do with the performance review, have I mentioned it already! The most common myth that if I pair with another person then they steal my superpowers needs to be definitely debunked. Let' u encourage pair testing where and when needed. And leave those alone who love to test with the tools, techniques, and approaches they have. Because they too contribute to the overall good of the product Pair testing is for those who wish to learn, to get help, to share their ideas, are ready to put their current skills to test and are ready to learn continuously to make themselves better than yesterday Pair te...