Diversity is important for testing, prejudice isn’t

I want the field of testing to have high diversity

• Different personality types:
  • we need people to get ideas, and people to finish them
  • We need people to see the strategic view, and people to get into the details
• Different backgrounds
  • We need people that can code
  • We need people that understand the business domain
• Different business domains
  • We need testers in the field of software development
  • We need testers in the field of IT / ITIL service delivery
  • We need device testers, embedded software testers….
  • We need testers that understand the GxP regulations
  • We need testers that understand rapid and agile delivery
• Different people
  • Parents, singles, people with kids and without
  • Young people, experienced people
  • People who take it as a lifestyle, and people to whom it’s just a job

…most of all people. People who knows that things can be done in many ways. Let’s get rid of the prejudices that testing is for the detailed and i-dotting only. Testing is about bringing information to the stakeholders about what works and what doesn’t – it’s never about “failure is not an option”.

Recently I was required to do a Cubiks Problem solving test. It’s a 12 minute online test in word patterns, calculations and geometric patterns. Apparently I “failed” to complete all in time, but had a high degree of right answers, so my score was “average” #whatever. That apparently made me perfect to the testing area… OH NO – it only tells you that I put pride in my own work. Everything else is pure speculation and prejudice, as mentioned by Gerry Weinberg in Psychology of Intelligent Problem Solving there is a challenge with these kinds of tests for problem solving – they test, but not for problem solving.

Testing is about solving problems – business problems. Like can we ship?

See also:

• More Diversity in testing
• Being different is key
• The Build-A-Tester Workshop
• HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN SOFTWARE TESTING?
• Diversity in software testing webinar
• What’s the Most Common Career path for Testers?
• More than connecting the dots

Read for your kids – special interest edition

If you are a parent to (early) school children you should know that it is important to read  to your kids. Reading the words out trains vocabulary, recognition, imagination, wondering etc etc. So I read subtitles from movies… because

The kids currently have Star Wars as their special interest [1], and wanted to see the “people” movies. The have played the scenes via the LEGO Video Games (GC) and have a range of the LEGO sets – so they had the basic plot already. Feature movies like Star Wars are usually subtitled in Denmark – while animation movies are dubbed [2]. So in order both to keep up with “PG” [3] and helping them read the titles – I get to watch the movies and read the subtitles…

Poor daddy, it’s almost as hard as when they has to finish the ice cream they can’t 😉

In the last months the (soon to be) 9yo have cracked the reading code and have gone from LIX11 books to the shorter subtitles. The 11yo have rest covered, but some of the longer texts are tricky (I’m looking at you – opening Scroll).

I tried reading Harry Potter (in Danish) but even if the story was very elaborate and detailed it didn’t catch their interest. Neither did classics from when I was a kid (Sorry Bjarne Reuter), so I had to rethink the acceptance criteria for “read for your kids“.

See these two kids are not as easily motivated – it has to tie into something they can see a direct interest in. Their autism makes them very picky on the choice of subject. What I try is to meet them where they are, expand their competencies and give them a lot of positive feedback until they master it on their own.

Links: People are people – despite their labels, They are just people, The yardstick of mythical normality, Acceptance is more than what can be measured

1. special interest, as in overly dedicated into the topic and cannot talk about anything else.
2. The Danish “dubbers” are usually world class, luckily.
3. Episode 3 is still to come, though.

Stakeholders

Motivated by LEGO, Pasta with ketchup, DR Ramasjang Rally – as other boys

Yet with autism (both, as in official  ICD-10 and DSM-IV). They could have been placed on a side track. They could be educated and trained to know that structure and predictability is the known world. But they are too curious, communicative and smart…. #methinks 🙂

We train them to be able to deal with change, unpredictability and the benefits of both direct and intrinsic motivation. Because they benefit from it and it helps them being accepted and included.

Have you noticed that uncertainty is the new normal? Adapting to this take courage, integrity and persistence. #NLDRcoach

— Ron McIntyre (@ronmci) November 1, 2013

Related: DK om at udsætte sine behov,  Weekend formula, That’s what friends are for, The 860 kcal bug, will work for LEGO, The yardstick of mythical normality acceptance is more than can be measured 

The yardstick of mythical normality

Those that accepted me, worked with my neurology not against it. Their yardstick was not a mythical normality but the potential that they felt that I could achieve. They recognized that my way of doing and learning certain things was different. Instead of proceeding from the assumption that was somehow wrong, they worked with it and helped me to find the place where my neurology and the world could safely mix. 

[ What Acceptance Means to Me | Published on April 20, 2013 by Lynne Soraya in Asperger’s Diary on http://www.psychologytoday.com ]