Lead us not into tempation....
Posted on 2008-Aug-9 at 10:23
I know what an interesting opening line for a blog. But it is how I feel.
You see I've been one of those Test/SQA engineers that sits in the shadows of the professional community. I may attend a SQA meeting here and there. I may be part of a panel at a Convention, sometimes having standing room only tech nights. I've written technical docs for products I have worked on for tips/tricks and advance techniques. I may even once and a while post something that is about QA or training based on some forum.
But I stay in the shadows. It is comforting. It is safe. Nobody can laugh at you and your ideas if you don't say anything.
Which is weird because when I work, folks call me tenacious and dedicated with conviction. I stand up for bugs, ideas and concepts, within my little cloistered world of the team.
So what prompted me to come out of the shadows?
I was interviewing at a company (who shall remain nameless) and speaking with one of their cheif QA engineers. He's well know in the community. He's well respected and was going to be giving a talk at an upcoming technical convention on SQA. We were having a conversation about ideas, technologies, advancement in the culture and processes of QA. And I casually mentioned about my theories of QA.
After explaining to him my 3 laws, he really thought it was quite unique and even asked to borrow it for his presentation. He asked me why I don't publish my ideas, or at least blog my ideas.
That got me thinking about what is it that keeps me in the shadows about my career.
I've revolutionized other teams with my ideas. I've created new QA processes that have been standardized in very large companies. I've been doing AGILE before it was even called that. I taught brand spanking new interns fresh from college who had NO clue how to be some of the best QA engineers around. I have legacies at companies I have left - even to this day I have heard comments like 'Nobody could replace you, man - the servers have suffered since you left because NOBODY tests like you do, even with your notes, they just don't feel the machines.
Engineering directors have raved about that I am the best QA engineer they have ever seen/worked with. Developers have gone out of their ways to make sure I work on their code.
But......
I feel humbled in the presence of my of my peers because I can't code. I am humbled and more so, feel like a second class citizen because I don't have a CS/CE or any other computer technology related degree.
I stutter - so at times it is hard to understand me
I am very unusual - Most can't believe I am as old as my license says, because I have the gullibility of a 5 year old, and the joy of exploration has not died in me.
I think in three-dimension. I see things in pictures, in connections.
My brain processes faster than I can speak...and sometimes it processes and I don't even realize it has an answer.
I don't believe in politics, bull****, bureaucracy. I can't condense down easily. I believe in technical aptitude and facts.
And I don't do well when I am out of my social class. I feel like the little kid at the grown-ups table at Thanksgiving, unsure of what to say or do and inevitably always manages to say something that truly isn't 'adult'.
But when I am in my game, in my world, where I feel safe I make the difference. I shape and re-define testing methodologies, constantly finding ways of improving, honing, challenging standards to push the barrier of Quality and the ability to test, effectively, efficiently, factually, and conceptually.
So, I decided to come out of my shadow, out of the darkside, the lunatic fringe and at least put my ideas down so others can use them, abuse them, do whatever they want to them, but its no longer just in my head or my teams that can benefit from me.
You see I've been one of those Test/SQA engineers that sits in the shadows of the professional community. I may attend a SQA meeting here and there. I may be part of a panel at a Convention, sometimes having standing room only tech nights. I've written technical docs for products I have worked on for tips/tricks and advance techniques. I may even once and a while post something that is about QA or training based on some forum.
But I stay in the shadows. It is comforting. It is safe. Nobody can laugh at you and your ideas if you don't say anything.
Which is weird because when I work, folks call me tenacious and dedicated with conviction. I stand up for bugs, ideas and concepts, within my little cloistered world of the team.
So what prompted me to come out of the shadows?
I was interviewing at a company (who shall remain nameless) and speaking with one of their cheif QA engineers. He's well know in the community. He's well respected and was going to be giving a talk at an upcoming technical convention on SQA. We were having a conversation about ideas, technologies, advancement in the culture and processes of QA. And I casually mentioned about my theories of QA.
After explaining to him my 3 laws, he really thought it was quite unique and even asked to borrow it for his presentation. He asked me why I don't publish my ideas, or at least blog my ideas.
That got me thinking about what is it that keeps me in the shadows about my career.
I've revolutionized other teams with my ideas. I've created new QA processes that have been standardized in very large companies. I've been doing AGILE before it was even called that. I taught brand spanking new interns fresh from college who had NO clue how to be some of the best QA engineers around. I have legacies at companies I have left - even to this day I have heard comments like 'Nobody could replace you, man - the servers have suffered since you left because NOBODY tests like you do, even with your notes, they just don't feel the machines.
Engineering directors have raved about that I am the best QA engineer they have ever seen/worked with. Developers have gone out of their ways to make sure I work on their code.
But......
I feel humbled in the presence of my of my peers because I can't code. I am humbled and more so, feel like a second class citizen because I don't have a CS/CE or any other computer technology related degree.
I stutter - so at times it is hard to understand me
I am very unusual - Most can't believe I am as old as my license says, because I have the gullibility of a 5 year old, and the joy of exploration has not died in me.
I think in three-dimension. I see things in pictures, in connections.
My brain processes faster than I can speak...and sometimes it processes and I don't even realize it has an answer.
I don't believe in politics, bull****, bureaucracy. I can't condense down easily. I believe in technical aptitude and facts.
And I don't do well when I am out of my social class. I feel like the little kid at the grown-ups table at Thanksgiving, unsure of what to say or do and inevitably always manages to say something that truly isn't 'adult'.
But when I am in my game, in my world, where I feel safe I make the difference. I shape and re-define testing methodologies, constantly finding ways of improving, honing, challenging standards to push the barrier of Quality and the ability to test, effectively, efficiently, factually, and conceptually.
So, I decided to come out of my shadow, out of the darkside, the lunatic fringe and at least put my ideas down so others can use them, abuse them, do whatever they want to them, but its no longer just in my head or my teams that can benefit from me.
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