Ministry of Testing

We’re bringing 2022 to a close with a second month of coaching-related conversation, as we finally maroon the one and only Vernon Richards on our desert island, to share his many career adventures, from games testing, to Will Smith body double, to flourishing as a coach. 

We talk about day-to-day challenges facing testers, such as the demands to upskill (particularly around code), how to display “coach-like” behaviours regardless of your job title, and how to balance networking with being a functioning family member.

On the music front, there’s a selection of hip-hop from across the decades (with a promise of some karaoke in the future), and Vernon exploits Neil’s festive kindness to increase the size of the island’s bookshelf by 10 titles. Plus, a round-up of our favourite music and movies of 2022!

Podcast Links:

Vernon Richards & Stu Day - What is Quality Coaching (TestBash UK 2022)

Vernon Richards - The Time I Became Will Smith’s Virtual Stunt Double

LinkedIn: Wanda Hawkins-Kavanagh

Twitter: Emma Keaveny

YouTube: Will Smith doing the Carlton Dance on the Graham Norton Show

TestBash UK 2023 Call for Papers

LinkedIn: Amy Phillips

Toby Sinclair

Barefoot Coaching

Vernon Richards - Myths and Legends of Software Testing (TestBash 2015)

Wikipedia: Socratic method

ORSC (Organisation and Relationship Systems Coaching)

ICP-ACC Agile Coaching Certification

Throwcase: That “Five Monkeys Experiment” Never Happened

Manchester Tech Festival

Ship 30 for 30

Vernon Richards: 3 Things I Learned Writing Online Every Day For 36 Days In A Row

Advent of Code

Yeah But Does It Work? - Vernon’s weekly newsletter

YouTube: Alex Isley & Jack Dine - Under The Moon

YouTube: Loyle Carner ft John Agard - Georgetown

YouTube: The Weeknd x DAWN FM Experience (Amazon Prime)

YouTube: Avril Lavigne ft Machine Gun Kelly - Bois Lie

Romanian Testing Conference

Agile Testing Days USA

Testing United Conference

TestBash UK 2023: Slight Change of Plans

Vernon on Twitter: @TesterFromLeic

Regular Links:

Listen to and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud

Sign up to be a guest on the show

Testers' Island Discs playlist on Spotify

Testers' Island Discs reading list on Goodreads

Follow us on Twitter

Performance testing is not new but with the changes on how we address work and deliveries we need to rethink how we approach performance. Join Cristiano Cunha in reviewing what we can do to add performance tests in your process so that it is compliant with these new demands of speed and stability.

When we have to choose new tools or define new processes, we consider a lot of criteria but sometimes visibility is not one of them. Join Cristiano Cunha in understanding how to identify if you have visibility issues and why is it so important. Learn why investing in visibility will, at the end, foster collaboration.

As we move unfathomably towards the festive season, we take a break from the cold and gloomy weather to welcome TestBash UK’s very own pink ray of sunshine, Clare Norman, for a discussion of the specific skills and traits that can help us to be better quality coaches

We talk about how a lack of testing resources can often be liberating for our roles, how listening is as valuable a skill as speaking, the differences between coaching and teaching, and the power of persuasion, in an episode which somehow remains coherent despite Neil’s tiredness and the recording software crashing twice.

Clare’s musical selections include a couple of big-hitting rock bands making their first-ever appearances on the podcast, the return of an old favourite, and some classical and world music choices too. And while Clare adds one book to our island selection, we also spend most of the episode name-checking lots of other influential books, talks and blogs in the coaching space.

Podcast Links

TestBash UK 2022: Clare Norman - Quality Coaching: Level 1

Aquafresh

Daily Record: Tesco website crashes as thousands lose spot in queue for Christmas delivery slots

Amazon: Kate Murphy - You’re Not Listening

Twitter: Vernon Richards (@TesterFromLeic)

Amazon: Forsgren, Humble & Kim - Accelerate

YouTube: Neha Datt - OKRs: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (AOTB22)

Slate: Elon Musk’s Delusional Fixation on Code at Twitter

Amazon: Edgar Schein - Humble Inquiry

Michael Bungay Stanier - The Coaching Habit

TestBash UK 2022: Vernon Richards & Stu Day - What is Quality Coaching?

Kim Morgan & Geoff Watts - The Coach’s Casebook

Mastodon

ReTestBash UK 2022 (1st December 2022)

Clare on Twitter: @ClareCatherine6

Regular Links:

Listen to and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud

Sign up to be a guest on the show

Testers' Island Discs playlist on Spotify

Testers' Island Discs reading list on Goodreads

Follow us on Twitter

Sergio Freire talks about how he landed in testing coming initially from a development background, ultimately becoming part of the Xray team. He talks about his experience with the testing community and also with Xray customers. He also talks about the findings during his journey, learnings that have roots on experience, the community, and customers.Testing is more broad then it seemed to be at start and also more interesting. Listen to find out more.

Fresh from last month’s TestBash adventure, Neil is joined by fellow conference attendee Conor Fitzgerald, who brings his experiences as co-founder of the Ministry of Testing Cork meetup, as well as from his many years as tester, manager and toastmaster.

On our agenda today, we discuss conferences and meetups (including the challenges of running both in-person and remote events), moving into management roles, how to lead when you can’t see people, and how good listening is often even more important than good speaking.

From a musical perspective, Conor does a fantastic job of debuting a few timeless bands onto our playlist, including some classic grunge and rock, and a third appearance by one of Neil’s favourite acts. Plus a load of bonus book recommendations!

Podcast Links:

Poppulo

Ministry of Testing Cork

Cork Toastmasters Club

Powerpoint Karaoke

YouTube: Super Voice series

Ministry of Testing Meetups

Lena Wiberg - Would Heu-Risk It?

Amazon: Kate Murphy - You’re Not Listening

Slideshare: Conor Fitzgerald - As testers, do we do more harm than good? (2021 version)

Modern Testing

Conor Fitzgerald - Guiding Principles blog post

Ronald Cummings-John & Owais Peer - Leading Quality

Elisabeth Hendrickson - Explore It!

Kim Scott - Radical Candor

Michael Bungay Stanier - The Coaching Habit

Conor on Twitter: @ConorFi

Regular Links:

Listen to and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud

Sign up to be a guest on the show

Testers' Island Discs playlist on Spotify

Testers' Island Discs reading list on Goodreads

Follow us on Twitter