Open Space is Agile

I have heard great things about Open Space Conferences, with one colleague going so far as to say “Selena, you are going to love Open Space! Get yourself to an event ASAP!”. I was intrigued.

Agile Coach Camp Canada 2010, photo credit: Michael Lant

In my research last year, I learned that at an Open Space event, participants will create and manage their own agenda of working sessions around a central theme. This all happens onsite just before the sessions themselves begin.

What a novel idea! Meetings and conferences that are focused on what matters to the people attending, rather than being planned and decided upon by a committee or management ahead of time.

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The Tombstone Puzzle

Yesterday my husband, son, and I took a road trip to seek out interesting places in our area. We have found it is easy to take local attractions for granted when they are so close, and often think “we’ll get there one day”, but that day rarely comes.  It was time to correct that for some select places of interest.

Castle Kilbride

The first stop was Castle Kilbride, a heritage site located in the small town of Baden, Ontario. We had driven past signs for it countless times over the last 16 years but had never been there. It proved to be more of a large opulent house than a castle, but it was interesting to see.
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Fast Food Lessons: Lesson #1 – Customers are Key

This is the first entry for a series of lessons I learned in the fast food industry when I worked at McDonald’s back in the early 90′s. Read the introduction at Fast Food Lessons – A New Series.

Note: I am not an advocate for McDonald’s, own no stock in the company, and would never ever step foot in one again if I can help it, due to a variety of reasons not relevant to these postings or this particular weblog.

One of the first things I learned working in the fast food industry was how important customers were. Customers are necessary for keeping a company operating, but are also important in shaping many business operations and decision points. Here are three things that stuck with me after working the daily grind at McD’s:

Customers keep the business running, and your job intact.

Seems obvious, doesn’t it?

Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be in many companies. I bet you can quickly think of at least three bad customer service experiences you have had in the last three months. Sub-standard customer service, interactions, and expectations have become common place in today’s society.

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Fast Food Lessons – A New Series

Many people who know me are surprised when they find out that I worked at McDonald’s for several years while in high school. Why is this surprising? .. because I am a vegan. Now, before you get side-tracked, I can assure you that I did not become vegan because of how much McDonald’s food I ate when I worked there. I’ll leave it at that.

I remember a lot about the training I received when I started my job, from the old out-dated cheesy training video’s, to the shadowing I did with existing employees at the customer counter. I also remember smelling like grease all the time, no matter how much I showered. But I digress…

This was back in the early 90′s when the classic McDonald’s characters were still around, though waning in appearances. Back then, at least in the restaurant that I worked in, most employee’s worked hard to deliver value (a.k.a. food) to the customers. I sure did! I was getting paid to work, and work I did. We still had fun while on the job, but never at the expense of the customer experience.

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Learning Testing Again

Several years ago I heard about a software testing course for “thinking testers”, created by Cem Kaner, and at that time, hosted and taught via the Center for Software Testing Education & Research website. After reviewing introductory information for the first course, Black Box Software Testing, I was very interested in taking it.

Having been a black box software tester for a few years already, I still knew there was a lot I could learn from this course specifically. Hands-on courses with exercises requiring active observation, critical thinking, and collaboration with peers were in short supply back then. I relished the opportunity to challenge myself and to learn, so I was hooked.

Oh, and it was free. That made it easy to get approval from my manager to take the course (ha! Free = no approval necessary!).

Unfortunately, I consistently had obligations that kept me away from the course. Excuses? No. That’s just how it was.  Starting and raising a family while moving up the ranks in responsibility at work took priority.

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Why I Attend CAST

My first experience at the Conference of the Association for Software Testing (CAST) was in Toronto in July 2008.

I heard about CAST from a colleague who attended the conference the previous year in Seattle, and was hooked on what he said about it. Determined to go to the next one regardless of the location, my bank account was pleased when Toronto was confirmed (which is a mere one hour drive for me).  It was time to see what all the buzz was about.

While attending a pre-conference tutorial on the first day, I quickly felt and understood what my colleague was referring to.  It felt like a homecoming, with all my favourite testing relatives in attendance.  Many long-lost cousins, relatives I didn’t know I had, and even close family members who I often stayed in touch with. Relatively speaking, of course.  :)

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What’s In A Name?

I recently embarked on my career as an independent consulting software tester, agile coach, facilitator, and experiential trainer.

Until last month, I have been employed as a full-time employee for the last 10 years, dabbling in presenting and facilitating workshops, and actively coaching and mentoring a variety of employees across organizations.

So, what does this mean?

I am finally starting my own business!

I have dreamed about doing this for years – 9 years to be exact.  I was in my first year of employment when I started envisioning working for myself, alongside all-star type colleagues that I respected and trusted.  I knew way back then that being an employee was a “short-term” gig for me.

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