The Test Team and Its Context
177
9.5 Motivating the Test Team
Don??™t even try. Test teams smell corporate bullshit at 30 paces and are motivated by:
??? The
lust for power
:
in finding a bug they are forcing a lot of people who were trying to do
something else, to pay attention to that tester, stop what they were doing, and fix it. Running their
test team the way (they think) it ought to be run, is a delight known only unto test managers.
???
Attention seeking
: they find a bug, and everyone pays attention to them. They are recognized!
Recognizing ability is better value than a company ???jolly.???
???
Determination to get a good product out
: there is a delight in the silent ???phone, the absence of
helpdesk calls, and the flat bug detection graphs. All is well. Unlike developers who (allegedly)
crave excitement, testers are only too delighted to have none of it.
???It went out, it went up, and it
stayed up???
is a proud boast.
???You should have found that???
is a condemnation.
???
Community buzz
: the water-fountain chat, the recognition not simply of their peers but of the
developers. One development team leader said,
???We??™ve never had bugs of this seriousness or complexity
raised so early before.???
When reported to the test team they almost purred.
???
Self-aggrandizement
: the tester who modestly disclaims all responsibility for finding that difficult
intermittent bug has yet to be born.
Pages:
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370