ConTEST 2021 Interview with Michael Bolton

Welcome to the interview with speakers series for “ConTEST 2021”. We are going to introduce Michael Bolton And I am sure you will enjoy this interview as much as I did.

Resolving different mindsets and worldviews is always a challenge in our daily lives. But how do we resolve them in our daily business and handle issues professionally? What is your tip?

My tip is to talk about your own mindset and learn about other mindsets. We learn from each other by performing work and examining it ourselves, and by showing it to other people. We learn things by trying them and then discussing them with our clients and our suppliers and each other. We learn by performing little experiments and by screwing up. We learn by getting feedback and using it to sharpen our expertise.

But sometimes a lot of the time we don't have to resolve our world views, as such. That is, we don't all have to think alike. We benefit from diverse world views working together. In fact, aspiring to have everyone think alike all the time would be a pretty terrible idea. And if you disagree, remember, I play the banjo: how would you like it if we all had to listen to nothing but banjo music all the time?

What was the best advice you ever got during your career and is still something you follow?

That's a hard one, partly because I've received so much good advice, and partly because I rarely follow it as much as I should.

Here's something that came to me from a man who was much older and wiser than I was. He's still older and wiser than I am, but when he gave me this advice, he was probably ten years younger than I am now.

He said: if you're in an organization, and you want to be successful within it, you need someone who is your sponsor. That is, you need someone willing to say of you that you're a solid performer, a great asset, a helpful person, someone who can get the job done. And that person needs to be your boss. And your boss, your sponsor needs a direct line of sponsorship, himself or herself. If you've got that, then you've got it made.   

If that person is in your organization but isn’t your boss, then come hell or high water, find a way to make that person your boss. Put your sponsor on notice explicitly that you want to work for him or her, and ask for your sponsor's help in making that come to pass. (If that person can't make that happen, then your sponsor isn't sufficiently powerful.)

If that person isn't in your organization, then do whatever it takes to get into that person's organization. And if that's not possible, ask your sponsor for help in your moving to some different place where you can find a sponsor.

Now you might reply, "But Michael... I don't have people like that in my network!"  And I would reply that if that's true, it's something you need to change. Reach out to people around you, and outside your circle. Aim a little higher than you think is justified. You'll find that most people are quite willing to help brave, helpful, and skilful people.

Now: all this may require you to be brave, and helpful, and skilful. So... be those things. Practice them.  You may need luck, too, but those other things will help the luck to stick.

You are an inspiration to many testers. We would like to know more about what made you who you are today?

You might want to be cautious about that! There’s a lot. Let me offer one part of it.

My first career was in theatre, where workshopping something trying it out, and seeing what we learn from it plays a big role. Workshopping things and showing them to others requires people to look at the work critically. Unlike actors or directors, theatre critics take on that role full-time. Good testers are like good critics.

A really good theatre critic is not someone who simply gripes about plays. A good theatre critic is an analyst. A good critic diligently studies the world of theatre; the history of theatre; both the technical and artistic aspects of it; direction, story, dialogue, lighting, sound, performers, music... Then the critic describes and evaluates the context, identifying how it might and might not fit for a given audience.  

A lot of people think Hamilton is a great show (and I agree). A good critic can tell you how and why it's a great show and why you might want to avoid it if it's not your thing. Critics help to shine a light on things so that people can see them for what they are. 

It often seems as though critics aren't satisfied with what they're describing; that they're never quite satisfied. One thing that can help make someone a valuable tester is the persistent level of moderate dissatisfaction with the current state of things. A tester needs to see things as they are, but that means that the tester must be prepared to see problems in things that everyone else wants to believe are okay. That may sound socially awkward, and it often is. 

Notice that the critic is not the director of the play. After opening night, when the reviews come out, the director may change the product based on feedback from the critics. So that's another way in which testers are like critics: we comment, but other people are running the show.

So: theatre is about a group of people working to create things. Good theatre requires a lot of rehearsal, a lot of experimentation and exploration and experience of what’s going one. In that context, people reflect on what they’re doing and get feedback from others. That’s one thing that contributed to my notions of what software development and testing are all about.

What advice would you give to someone starting a career in testing? 

Learn about people. Learn about problems, and how people can be fooled. Technology is important, and it's good to learn about that. But technology is a means to an end. Too few people examine the means without linking it to the ends. Too few people ask fundamental questions about technology; whether it's solving our problems or creating new ones. To do that, we must study what people want to do with technology.

What changes do you wish to see in future in the testing industry and community?

I believe we need to take a sober look at the cost and value of what we do as testers, and to be honest about where we're spending our time. At the moment, testing clients aren't aware of the energy that testers are spending on the care and feeding of code that takes enormous effort to maintain, doesn't cover the product very deeply, and doesn't address the issue of whether our products solve the problems that they're supposed to.

 Is there a question I didn’t ask you, you would like to answer or something you want to share with the community?

(laughs) I haven't said enough already? 

I'm determined to help testers to be the best that they can be on their own terms. If you'd like my help, please contact me.

About the Interviewees:

Michael Bolton is a consulting software tester and testing teacher, who helps people to solve testing problems that they didn’t realize they could solve. In 2006, he became co-author (with James Bach) of Rapid Software Testing (RST). RST is a methodology and mindset for testing software expertly and credibility in uncertain conditions, and under extreme time pressure. Since then, he has flown over a million miles to teach RST in 35 countries on six continents.

Michael has 25 years of experience testing, developing, managing, and writing about software. For the last 18 years, he has led DevelopSense, a Toronto-based testing and development consultancy. Before that, he was with Quarterdeck Corporation for eight years, where he managed the company’s flagship products and directed project and testing teams both in-house and around the world.

Connect with him on Linkedin: Michael Bolton / Twitter: @michaelbolton Email:[email protected], or through his Web site https://www.developsense.com.

Interview host and publisher: 

Astrid Winkler. Connect with her on Linkedin: Astrid Winkler / Twitter: @AstridWinkler4