Self-Education for Testers: Scouting

James Bach, Principal, Satisfice, Inc.

You don't have a degree in testing. And, if you have a certification as a tester, then you and I both know it has shallow roots. To get certified as a tester involves little more than a vocabulary and general knowledge quiz after taking a few classes. So, if you want to become a truly expert tester you must drive your own education. You must drive it beyond most other testers.

Let me share one way that I push the boundaries of my testing education: scouting. By that I mean browsing for new sources of knowledge. I can scout online, in bookstores, or pretty much anywhere. I'm almost always in scout mode, wherever I am.

Step 1: Sensitize Yourself to a Topic of Interest

The process of scouting begins with a topic. Let's say my topic is software testing. I fix that interest in my mind and consider it. What are its parts? How does it work? Ideas begin to form, connecting together and forming a sort of web or lattice that comprises my interest. Each part of that web is a sub-topic of testing. Learning about any of the sub-topics help me learn about testing. Here's a short list of testing sub-topics that just occurred to me, sitting here:

• Seeing things
• Seeing the same things in different ways
• Evaluating things; making judgments
• Finding something that is hidden
• Camouflage
• Analyzing something for testing purposes
• Analyzing anything
• Identifying parts
• Labeling things

I could keep going, but that's enough for a demonstration. Now, I look at the list, and I notice something I have never thought of before: camouflage. Maybe I should learn about camouflage, so that I can be better able to see things that other people don't see. This is the very first time I've had that idea. Now, I am more sensitized.

I do this to prepare my mind for better scouting. Now let's get on with the scouting itself.

2. Go Somewhere

To scout for knowledge, you must scout *somewhere*. So, the next step is to go somewhere. Go online, or go to a bookstore. Go to a friend's house, or a museum. Go anywhere that will hold your attention. If you don't want to go anywhere, then be where you are, but prepare to see it in a new way.

I scout anywhere, but my favorite place is probably a large bookstore.

3. Look at Something, Then Ask How it Applies

With your mind sensitized to your topic of interest, and your body standing in the middle of the bookstore, or wherever you are, look around you. Everywhere your eye lands, identify an object and ask yourself if it applies to your topic. Be creative.

Let's say that you are standing in the home and garden section. Pick up a gardening book and ask what it can tell you about testing. Maybe it can tell you something about soil testing, or how you know it's time to plant tomatoes. How is soil testing like software testing? How is it unlike? Maybe it has tables and charts that are formatted in an engaging way. Is there an idea there you might apply to the next test matrix you format? Leaf through the book quickly and see what catches your interest. Don't force it. Let it be fun. If nothing grabs you, put the book down and move on.

Many useful books will be found in the computer section, of course.

4. Skim What You Find

As you discover promising books, read them right there in the store. I don't mean read every word! If you read as slowly as I do, it's not an option to read the whole thing in five minutes, but you can skim it in five minutes. Flip through it quickly and just notice what is there. Then close the book and ask yourself these questions: What are the main points of this book? What resources does it offer? If you draw a blank, then open the book and skim it again.

The purpose of scouting is to build in your mind a sort of index that you can use later. Scouting itself is not research, but it serves research. Personally, when a book looks promising, I buy it. I don't read most of the books I buy. I own them because I have scouted enough to know what kind of problem each of the books can help me solve. When the right problem comes up, I spring to my library and snatch up the right book.

I periodically rescout my library, which has several thousand books in it, to refresh my mental index.

Overall, this process has been a key to my success as a consultant. I look for resources everywhere, I find them anywhere. Over time, I have amassed an offbeat education that helps me compete in the marketplace of ideas.

James Bach is the principal consultant with Satisfice, Inc. and will be a keynote speaker at CAST 2006

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