“The scientist has a lot of experience with ignorance and doubt and uncertainty, and this experience is of very great importance, I think. When a scientist doesn’t know the answer to a problem, he is ignorant. When he has a hunch as to what the result is, he is uncertain. And when he is pretty damn sure of what the result is going to be, he is in some doubt.” – Richard Feynman
I recently had the distinct privilege of watching an expert tester at work. I wouldn’t call this person a “test manager” or “test lead”, even though what they were doing would probably be categorized as an activity associated with both of those roles. No, I would give them the honor of calling them an expert tester – someone using all of their knowledge and skills developed through years of practicing their craft. And they weren’t even testing software; they were testing ideas. Testing assumptions. Testing people. Testing themselves. It was a thing of beauty. Continue reading