Case Studies and Experience Reports

So far, we’ve talked about all the pieces of testing, and how to put them together, assuming everyone will know what needs to be done and will do it. If only it were that easy.

Most of the time, people are driven by incentives. Workers (often) want to get the most they possibly can for the least effort; managers and owners want to drive out the most value for the lowest price. All three groups are trying to extract money from customers to pay for their activities. These conflicting expectations lead us to suggest that we should not complain about corporate inefficiency. Rather, we should rejoice that anything ever gets done at all.

We write that not to joke, but instead to emphasize just how difficult change initiatives are. If you’re driving a change initiative in testing, it’s most likely driven by the middle or lower ranks, without the attention and glitter that comes from a capital-C change initiative. If you are establishing...