Quality Blether

Anna McMillan is an Award Winning Test Manager, the Head of the Quality Engineering Practice for 2i and generally renowned as a force of nature.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-mcmillan/

Anna's 2025 Predictions Article

Software Testing with Generative AI by Mark Winteringham

Wiring the Winning Organization: Liberating Our Collective Greatness through Slowification, Simplification, and Amplification by Gene Kim & Steven Spear

The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim

The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim

The Bezos Blueprint by Carmine Gallo

Measure What Matters by John Doerr

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This is the podcast of The Scottish Testing Group.

This is intended to be a safe space where subjects can be explored in a curious and open-minded way, always remaining friends, no matter how controversial it may get.

The Scottish Testing Group was set up to connect those people working in the field of software testing across Scotland. As software affects all of us anyone is welcome to join and contribute to the conversation. Networking, mutual support, education, and curiosity are the purpose of STG.

The music is The Beat of Nature by Lesfm, Olexy. Available on Spotify.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In June 2024 I attended the EuroSTAR Software Testing Conference in Stockholm. It's the biggest and longest-running software testing conference in Europe. attracting renowned speakers and delegates from around the world, as well as enthusiastic first-timers and learners. I grabbed the opportunity to have conversations with as many of these amazing, inspirational people as possible. This episode is a collection of snippets from some of these conversations in order to give a flavour of the wonderful experience that is EuroSTAR.

Thank you to my interviewees

Russell Craxford

Tanja Voss

Nele van Asch

Szilard Szell

Soren Andersen

Rikard Edgren

Rick Tracy

Maria Kedemo

Dorothy Graham

Kristoffer Nordstrom

Also thanks to the EuroSTAR Crew, volunteers, and all the other speakers.

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This is the podcast of The Scottish Testing Group.

This is intended to be a safe space where subjects can be explored in a curious and open-minded way, always remaining friends, no matter how controversial it may get.

The Scottish Testing Group was set up to connect those people working in the field of software testing across Scotland. As software affects all of us anyone is welcome to join and contribute to the conversation. Networking, mutual support, education, and curiosity are the purpose of STG.

The music is The Beat of Nature by Lesfm, Olexy. Available on Spotify.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anne-Marie Charrett is a very experienced tester, a sort-after presenter on the conference circuit, a trainer, a EuroSTAR Testing Excellence Award Winner, and quite possibly the Queen of Quality Coaching. In this wide-ranging conversation, we cover many topics within Quality and testing, motorcycles, and even the definition of Quality itself.

https://www.annemariecharrett.com/

Agile Testing Condensed: A Brief Introduction by Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory

Agile Testing by Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory

More Agile Testing: Learning Journeys for the Whole Team by Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory

Testing Computer Software. by C.Kaner.J.Falk.H.O.Nguyen

Lessons Learned in Software Testing: A Context-Driven Approach by Bret Pettichord, Cem Kaner, James Bach

Explore It!: Reduce Risk and Increase Confidence with Exploratory Testing by Elisabeth Hendrickson

Leading Quality: How Great Leaders Deliver High Quality Software and Accelerate Growth by Ronald Cummings - John, Owais Peer

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

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This is the podcast of The Scottish Testing Group.

This is intended to be a safe space where subjects can be explored in a curious and open-minded way, always remaining friends, no matter how controversial it may get.

The Scottish Testing Group was set up to connect those people working in the field of software testing across Scotland. As software affects all of us anyone is welcome to join and contribute to the conversation. Networking, mutual support, education, and curiosity are the purpose of STG.

The music is The Beat of Nature by Lesfm, Olexy. Available on Spotify.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Stringer is applying his Agile principles to writing his new book "Delivering the Impossible". It encompasses Philosophy, Psychology, Improvisational Comedy, and 20 years experience of THOSE problem projects that many of us have endured. It contains much that is of interest and use to anyone involved in projects of any sort, especially to those of us in Quality & Testing.

Delivering the Impossible

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/delivering-the-impossible

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markstringer/

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This is the podcast of The Scottish Testing Group.

This series of conversations is intended to be a safe space where subjects can be explored in a curious and open-minded way, always remaining friends, no matter how controversial it may get. This will be an amicable and convivial learning experience for all parties, especially the listener.

The Scottish Testing Group was set up to connect those people working in the field of software and systems testing across Scotland. However, as software affects all of us globally anyone is welcome to join and contribute to the conversation. Networking, mutual support, education, and feeding our curiosity are the primary purpose of STG.

The music is The Beat of Nature by Lesfm, Olexy. Available on Spotify.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Post Office Horizon Scandal has recently hit the headlines in a big way, but this is something that has been rumbling on since 1999. James Christies with his background in accountancy, Internal & External Audit, and Testing is in a particularly good position to understand it. As a result James' blog, which he has been writing for over a decade, has become a go-to source of insight into the scandal. In this episode James and I discuss the scandal, some of the more interesting details of it, and its implications for the broader IT & Testing industry.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kari Kakkonen is not only very influential in the field of Testing, but he is also very passionate about spreading the word about its importance and the fact that it can also be fun. In this episode Kari talks about how & why he wrote his children's book Dragons Out, all the other support material he has for teaching software testing, his involvement in TMMi, & iSTQB, the other books he has written, and the future of testing. It also includes a guest appearance by Paul Gerrard reading his poem about Kari's book.

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This is the podcast of The Scottish Testing Group.

This series of conversations is intended to be a safe space where subjects can be explored in a curious and open-minded way, always remaining friends, no matter how controversial it may get. This will be an amicable and convivial learning experience for all parties, especially the listener.

The Scottish Testing Group was set up to connect those people working in the field of software and systems testing across Scotland. However, as software affects all of us globally anyone is welcome to join and contribute to the conversation. Networking, mutual support, education, and feeding our curiosity are the primary purpose of STG.

The music is The Beat of Nature by Lesfm, Olexy. Available on Spotify.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The IT Industry pundits in the media for the last couple of decades have been talking about the rise and fall and rise again of Testing Centres of Excellence, but they never really went away. If you know what you are doing you can successfully implement and manage a good Test Centre of Excellence, and Jackie McDougal has done it, several times.

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This is the podcast of The Scottish Testing Group.

This series of conversations is intended to be a safe space where subjects can be explored in a curious and open-minded way, always remaining friends, no matter how controversial it may get. This will be an amicable and convivial learning experience for all parties, especially the listener.

The Scottish Testing Group was set up to connect those people working in the field of software and systems testing across Scotland. However, as software affects all of us globally anyone is welcome to join and contribute to the conversation. Networking, mutual support, education, and feeding our curiosity are the primary purpose of STG.

The music is The Beat of Nature by Lesfm, Olexy. Available on Spotify.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The news is full of the big IT companies making redundancies, so we thought it would be a good idea to dedicate this episode to Job Hunting.

My guest is Matt Drinkwater who has been recruiting Quality & Testing professionals for over 17 years. He also set up one of the early face-to-face networking events, Birmingham Testers Meetup and now runs the excellent QE Babble on LinkedIn. Join us for hints, tips, and advice on all things Job Hunting.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattdrinkwater/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/qebabble/

QE Babble on MeetUp

* Setup job alerts on Monster, CV Library, CW Jobs, and Reed

* Register your CV on those platforms

* Sign up to Wellfound

* Sign up to job alerts on this platform (LinkedIn)

* Connect with other QE recruiters (there are quite a few of us!)

* https://www.ministryoftesting.com/jobs (another brilliant job board and tonnes of good stuff for Testers)

Other ideas to stand out;

* Focus on applying for jobs that your skills are most suited to. In a crowded market, your response/acceptance rate will go down significantly if you apply across a broad range of jobs

* Often people update their CV when they finish their last job but rarely look back at the rest of it, or even update their professional summary. Each time you're looking for work, re-read the whole document and update it to reflect your key strengths

* Define what you are best at within your role and be specific. Put this detail front and centre on your CV. Shout about it on LinkedIn in posts, comments and articles. Change your page to reflect your key strengths, not just job title and responsibilities

* Follow up every job application with a direct and personal message to the Head of QA for the company

* Consider all old contacts and colleagues, find out where they are now, and enquire about jobs at those companies

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This is the podcast of The Scottish Testing Group.

This series of conversations is intended to be a safe space where subjects can be explored in a curious and open-minded way, always remaining friends, no matter how controversial it may get. This will be an amicable and convivial learning experience for all parties, especially the listener.

The Scottish Testing Group was set up to connect those people working in the field of software and systems testing across Scotland. However, as software affects all of us globally anyone is welcome to join and contribute to the conversation. Networking, mutual support, education, and feeding our curiosity are the primary purpose of STG.

The music is The Beat of Nature by Lesfm, Olexy. Available on Spotify.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Brown has a First in Physics & Maths, a PhD in Semiconductors, and an MBA, but he's better known for presenting on Psychology in the IT industry, especially in Testing, Technical Debt, and Systems Modelling of projects. We had problems with Andrew's internet connection, so the audio drops out a couple of times. Thank you for bearing with us.

https://behaviouralsoftwareclub.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYRn0sModVcd1Y6SkbHMtKw

Inattentional Blindness

Monkey Business Illusion

Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine by R. Nesse & George Williams

Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry by Randolph M. Nesse 

Emotional: The New Thinking About Feelings by Leonard Mlodinow

Death March by Edward Yourdon 

Nobody Ever Gets Credit for Fixing Problems that Never Happened by N. Repenning and J. Sterman

This is the podcast of The Scottish Testing Group.

The music is The Beat of Nature by Lesfm, Olexy. Available on Spotify.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I chat with Nicola Martin. Nicola is the Head of Quality Engineering at the AI company Adarga and the Chair of the BCS Special Interest group in software testing. She's involved in BCS Women, on the BCS Council and BCS Pride. She's also been the UK delegate to the UN Commission for The Status of Women. 

Nicola has been nominated in the UK Tech 50, she was longlisted for Influential Women in Tech in 2019 and shortlisted this year. She's also a Women in Tech Excellence Award finalist this year. And she's involved in the Women in Tech network. she's also very active as an advocate for Diversity and Inclusion. 

We discuss AI, Diversity & Inclusion, and skills for a tester. We also discussed the challenges she faced as a black, single mother working in the Tech industry and what advice she has for anyone facing similar challenges.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Software Testing Building Systems You Can Trust - By Rex Black, James Davenport, Joanna Olszewska, Jeremias Rößler, Adam Leon Smith, Jonathon Wright 
2. God: An Anatomy by Francesca Stavrakopoulou 
3. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson 

This is the podcast of The Scottish Testing Group.

This series of conversations is intended to be a safe space where subjects can be explored in a curious and open-minded way, always remaining friends, no matter how controversial it may get. This will be an amicable and convivial learning experience for all parties, especially the listener.

The Scottish Testing Group was set up to connect those people working in the field of software and systems testing across Scotland. However, as software affects all of us globally anyone is welcome to join and contribute to the conversation. Networking, mutual support, education, and feeding our curiosity are the primary purpose of STG.

The music is The Beat of Nature by Lesfm, Olexy. Available on Spotify.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.