The Catalyst

Several years ago I found myself pressured by some colleagues to join the executive team of my local software quality association. I had often considered joining as it seemed an excellent venue for networking and getting more involved in the software testing/QA community, but I always had a reason for not joining. I thought, “What do I really have to offer?”, “I am too busy this year”, and simply, “I’m scared!”.

Over the course of a few weeks, suggestions quickly became, “We don’t need to fill the newsletter editor position, because Selena is going to do it.”  My colleagues were not surprised when I finally said I would take the position; they knew me well. The motivation of my colleagues, and learning that other people felt the same way I did, helped me overcome the reservations I had in joining the executive team.

The following year I accepted a nomination to become the president. My reasoning? I was terrified to speak in public. I figured that if I was ever going to present at conferences and provide training courses, I needed to face that fear. I conquered the worst of that fear during the first season by speaking at membership meetings making announcements and introducing monthly speakers. After two years in that role I felt much more confident and stepped down to pursue other opportunities in the testing community.

Association for Software Testing

Following a nomination for an AST Board Member position a couple months ago, I found out at CAST that I was elected to the Board by the membership. I am excited to become more involved in the AST community by helping to grow, support, and provide new opportunities for the organization. While I have a Board Member role, I plan to decide on a particular area of focus after spending a couple months figuring out how I can best add value. I truly believe in the spirit and goals of AST in promoting and supporting the evolution of software testing as an intelligent, creative, and context-driven craft.

This summer I also started co-instructing the BBST Foundations course offered by AST after taking it in the spring (read about my experience). I finished my first co-instruction in July alongside Rebecca Fiedler and Michael Larsen, and am currently co-instructing the August session alongside John McConda, Brett Leonard, Michael Larsen, and Jen McCann. I have learned even more in this role, both from my fellow instructors and the students.

Other Organizations

I support a number of other software testing organizations in a variety of ways, while my time and contributions are volunteer-based. I contribute for a number of reasons, the primary being a desire to contribute to this community on a larger scale to help herald in a new era for software testers around the world (one where intelligence, critical-though, and creativity are expected and recognized).

• Software Test Professionals: They have recently undergone a rebranding to create a community for software test professionals who want to learn, engage, and network. I am speaking and leading a workshop at the upcoming STP Conference in October, have been an interviewee for Matt Heusser’s weekly This Week in Software Testing broadcast, have an article releasing on the STP website this week, and am giving a webinar for STP in September on test management. Again, this is a volunteer-based community, and the majority of my involvement has been non-paid work. I have recently joined a couple of STP Crews, though have yet to see what they are about in practice. A great way to contribute and gain recognition through a variety of avenues.

• Software Testing Club: This is an open-community of software testers. My recent activity has been limited to contributions to their newspaper, The Testing Planet. I have read a lot of really good content, contributed by test practitioners, trainers, and consultants who are truly passionate about software testing. While contributions are not paid for, there is a broad audience of testers who read this publication, and the website content, due to the breadth of the community. Another great way to contribute to the field.

• Waterloo Workshops on Software Testing: A local workshop I started with a colleague this year. It is a peer workshop with an emphasis on mutual learning, sharing hands-on experiences, solving practical problems, and promoting contributions to the field. We aim to build skills in software testing and allow people who are passionate about software testing to network with their peers, and help to move thinking about testing forward. Contact me if you are interested in participating in an upcoming workshop.

• Kitchener-Waterloo Software Quality Association: I continue to offer my support to my local software quality/testing organization, the KWSQA. I promote the organization, present at membership meetings and the yearly conference, and (try) to attend monthly membership meetings. I declined a larger role in the organization this season, due to my other obligations aside from starting up my own business.

What Are You Doing?

How are you supporting the software testing community?

Volunteering takes time and requires following through on committments. BUT it is also extremely rewarding in a number of ways:

• A sense of pride and satisfaction in helping the testing community grow and evolve.
• Networking with like-minded individuals you can call on if you need advice or help.
• Meet and network with people you respect and admire.
• Learn even more about your craft as a result of all of these, which increases your skills, professionalism, and drives your career forward.
• Build recognition for yourself in the industry and propel your career forwards.

There are many opportunities to assist with, and contribute to any of these organizations and many others. Let go of your excuses and fear and take your first step in helping the software testing industry gain the respect it deserves. Whether you can pitch in a few hours, or several days, over the course of a year, any organization will be glad to have you on board as volunteers are in short supply.

Contact me for questions about, or even a desire to volunteer for, any of the organizations I mentioned. You can even contact me if you can’t find a local organization you would like to contribute to – I may be able to locate something suitable, or connect you with someone else who can.

I challenge you to step up your game!

That Good Morning Cup, by Wespionage on Flickr

I once worked for a manager who did a great job of smiling and saying ‘Hello’ to his employees every morning. He then spent most of his time in meetings during the rest of the day… he was a manager after all, and managers are busy people.

When he was available for his employees, he enjoyed having discussions with his senior staff members to make decisions, decide on new directions, and figure out how to handle challenges.

Sounds like a great person to work for! … Right?

Perhaps so…

… But perhaps only if you paid attention to WHAT they were doing…

… and not HOW they were doing these things.

For instance, you might begin to notice that while your manager made the rounds saying ‘Hello’ every morning, their tone of voice and the words used changed depending on whom he was speaking to.  You might even begin to notice a trend amongst your fellow colleagues in those differences (but what does it all mean?!).

Now let’s say you were one of the fortunate few to be a senior staff member to this manager.  Wouldn’t that be cool?!  To be on the inside track, working closely with your manager to set the direction of your team / department, and getting opportunities to take on more responsibilities.

That sounds like fun to me!

The opportunity would become less fun as you begin to notice that your ideas are rarely considered or used for making decisions or improving the team.   Now you are beginning to wonder what is going on… your ideas and perspectives have been highly regarded by others in the organization.

So what gives?  Why isn’t your manager respecting your ideas or supporting you?  Is this happening to everybody?

Upon further observation, you find that this manager does in fact appear to take ideas from a couple of your peers.  But wait a minute, those peers are just reframing something that your manager said!  They are repackaging his comments to simply agree with what he wants to have happen.

Your manager doesn’t want new ideas, or someone challenging his (obviously perfect) ideas.

Your manager wants ‘Yes’ Men!

People who will agree with what he says and not challenge his ideas.

Aha!  That explains why your ideas are rarely considered or used – you don’t blindly agree to whatever is thrown on the table because a particular somebody said it.

Thinking back to those morning greetings, you realize that the ‘Yes’ Men on the team get meaningful interactions with your manager in the morning… and the people who aren’t?  They are getting a syrupy-sweet-so-you-can’t-actually-complain-about-me-fake greeting that lasts all of one second.

Moreover, you realize that your manager thrives on a dictatorship.  He is happy when he tells people what to do, and they do it.  He supports the senior staff who continue that behaviour with other team members.    So, opportunities on the team for growth and advancement are only given to those ‘Yes’ Men.

Not so nice anymore, is it?

This type of person does exist!

I did in fact work for someone like this after a good manager left.  I ended up leaving the team when I pieced together what was going on.  To say the least, it was a toxic environment, and I stayed in it much too long.

I learned a lot from that experience though, such as:

• Recognizing when I am working with someone like this
• Understanding myself and my own limits better
• How to view painful experiences as valuable learning opportunities
• When to try to work past differences with other people, and when to move on
• How NOT to behave if I wanted to be a good (or even great) manager

On the Flip Side

I did have a manager who did all the things I described in the first two paragraphs who was very sincere in their discussions and greetings, who truly valued their employee’s input, collaborated often to make decisions and generate ideas, and empowered their team to be responsible, creative, hard-working, and have fun.   Paying attention to HOW she behaved, not just WHAT she did, made this obvious.

I have even been this positive manager myself over a number of years in managing teams… but more on that in another entry.

Now, I would like to hear from you!

Have you worked with or for someone who is a dictator-type who thrives on working with ‘Yes’ Men?  What has your experience been like?  Were you able to find a way to work with them, or to deter their behaviours?

Please share your stories!

Today I actually read the weekly LinkedIn update I receive, and noticed that one of my connections had added a book to their recommended reading list.  I had no idea LinkedIn had an application for that!  Very cool.  This will save me some time by not having to track all my books on this site, which I had intended to do (yes, that means you need check out my LinkedIn profile for books for the time being).   So, the first thing I did was throw up a number of books I’m reading right now – admittedly there are a few others I’m in the middle of as well, but those will wait for another time.

From there, I wondered if there was anything of interest in any of the groups I was a member of.  I noticed that I had a group for PSL (Problem Solving Leadership, a course I took with Jerry Weinberg, Johanna Rothman, and Esther Derby about 1.5 years ago).  I had completely forgotten there was a group for it, never mind that I had joined it!  I felt like I had found $20 I had hidden in a pocket months ago – what a great feeling!

Clicking on the link, I found a message on the PSL news list titled ‘A Profound Learning Experience in PSL’.   Given my experience with PSL, I had to agree that it was an incredibly profound experience.  I was curious to read about this person’s experience.  It turns out that the author, David Barnholdt, had recently taken the course, and had learned more in one week at PSL than he had in months.  His debrief of his experience at PSL is worth reading, so be sure to check it out.

At some point, I will summarize my experiences, insights, and outcomes of my own experience at PSL.  As soon as I’m ready to share the very personal nature of the week with the world wide web.  That is pretty scary to think about, but I think I’m nearly there.  :)

I have recently found myself in a bit of a slump.  There are a lot of things I want to do, but I’ve been having difficulty focusing in on one at a time – both at work and personally.  After some reflection, I have discovered that this stems in part from being frustrated in my seeming inability to empower and enhance the environment with colleagues at work recently.  To put it bluntly, some people are annoying the heck out of me, and I’m having trouble getting past that to be at my best.

David’s post was a really great grounding agent for me, reminding me of what I had personally experienced and learned while at PSL.  It also brought to light how effective I can really be in shaping a positive environment around me with only a slight change in how I approach each day and in interactions with other people.  I really needed this!  I am looking forward to seeing how I improve through the rest of the week with people around me.

My final thought for today:  The Problem Solving Leadership course is a wonderful, and life-altering experience.  It will challenge you in ways you could never expect, but also help you find parts of yourself you didn’t know you could ever find.  There is another offering being held in March of 2009.  Please do attend if you can find a way to make it happen.  I can guarantee that you won’t regret it!