The cultural conflict with a testing role

In the 1948 movie, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a group of bandits attempt to trick the hero by claiming to be the Federal Mounted Police (“federales”). When the hero asks to see their badges, the bandit leader responds with the classic phrase, “We don’t need no stinkin’ badges.” In the actual movie, the reply comes in three parts: “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges.” The line has gone down in movie history, to be honored (or lampooned) in books, comics, cartoons, and even Al Yankovic’s movie VH1.

At some point, the idea of having testers as a job emerged. A series of comedic (or perhaps tragic) mistakes had happened since then to marginalize testing as a role, making it a low-, no-, and (in some cases) negative-value activity.

Somehow, companies have started to say, “We don...