The Illusion of Work Done Well I observe much of the world through the lens of risk and quality. As a student of what makes some things better than others, I often discover common characteristics and attributes that indicate something is of good quality. Similarly, there are those things that give a hint that we are looking at an illusion of quality. I was recently helping a friend assemble a piece of flat-packaged furniture. I removed the various components, screws, dowels, and an instruction manual and began the assembly journey. The veneer on the panels was a beautiful beach wood, somethin ..read more

Grow your testing skills even during a tough job market. Source: https://testguild.com/podcast/automation/a475-greg ..read more

Over the weekend, I was following a great LinkedIn post about anxiety entering the workplace. Anxiety is often anchored in some form of fear. Fear of failure Fear of letting someone down Fear of not measuring up If any of these come knocking on your brain occasionally, welcome to being human; these are the usual fears we all wrestle with. If you wake up every morning or find yourself obsessing over these fears, you may be wrestling with anxiety, which is something you need to address. Anxiety is so prominent in our world that you will likely encounter someone today dealing with some form of ..read more

While attending the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference in Portland, Oregon in 2023, I had the pleasure of doing an interview with Señor Performo on his YouTube channel. We talked about my background in testing and about my recent paper on 360 Degrees of Risk. I hope you enjoy the interview. Open in a new window   ..read more

I’m a passionate innovator, which might surprise you to hear from a Quality Engineer. My mind continually asks, “What If?” as I observe the world through the lens of assessing where risk resides. One of the key tools I use as a Quality Innovator, which I hope to encourage you to embrace, is the gift of not knowing everything. So what does this mean? Of course, we don’t know everything. None of us do. Well, when you bring that into laserbeam focus on a problem you are trying to resolve or something you are trying to overcome, the ability to live by these words “We don’t know what we don’t know ..read more

Quality Engineering is the activity of uncovering and investigating risks we often call bugs or defects. Our role as Quality Engineers requires communicating our discoveries to those needing these details to make informed decisions. Everyday life involves revealing and investigating risks. We, too, make decisions based on our findings. What we learn and move on can benefit us or ignore it, leading to disastrous results. I want to take us on a 360-degree journey into the world of risks. My goal is to sharpen your awareness of genuine risks and enlighten you about areas in which we unknowingly ..read more

Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away. What do all these movies have in common? Tom Hanks is arguably one of the most talented actors of our time. I’m amazed each time I see him perform, drawing me into his latest character as if I had never seen him in any previous role. What movie you’ve watched spurred you to emotion and maybe even led you to action or, possibly worse, living in fear? Isn’t it intriguing how some individuals can persuade others to a different course of action simply because they are good actors? I recently heard of a technology executive painting a bleak picture to ..read more

So you’ve hired the finest Test Engineers and acquired the best Test Tools. So why are you experiencing modest results? Today, let’s talk about the strengths and weaknesses of Testing Talents and Tools and help you build a strategy to up your game, raising the bar of your Team and their Testing Efforts. Open in a new window   ..read more

Learn practical ways to blend your Test Strategy into Test Automation efforts. Bring your real-world test planning and automation questions for an interactive session, guiding your team to greater benefits in Test Engineering. Open in a new window   ..read more

Learn to avoid a common trap Automation Engineers fall into called “Go for Green.” Develop the radar for detecting this problem and build into your team culture the tools to talk about “Go for Green,” where and when it’s most likely to happen. Open in a new window   ..read more