It's amazing how much you can learn about software testing from watching and being involved in sports teams!  I have two daughters who have been heavily involved in soccer and I have had the opportunity to watch many games and also coach some of them.  Suffice to say from the above title, the last season did not go well. The following applies to teams of both genders but of course having daughters, I have mostly witnessed the Girls teams and their playing strategies.  These are recounts of previous games over the years and how I felt they related to the software testing industry.

 

The first game involved a mixed Boys and Girls team of under 5's, the second was an under 14 Girls game that one of my daughters plays on, and the other was an under 16 Girls match where one of my daughters was the referee. 

 

The analogy to testing software was almost too close to be a coincidence.

 

In the under 5 mixed teams, there is a knot of kids moving around the micro sized field.  Somewhere in the middle of it is the soccer ball and a number of legs kicking at it.  Direction is not a concern nor is 'playing your position'.  Some of the kids were looking toward their parents at the side of the field and not playing attention to anything.  Once in a while someone would get a breakaway (50% of the time in the wrong direction) and progress up the field with everyone yelling "Stop - you're going in the wrong direction" or "Go for it!"  Every time the ball went out of bounds everyone stopped and looked at it - all play came to a halt.  Those that make a mistake and realize it, stop and admit their mistake (even if no one is refereeing or checking).  At this level we do not keep score - everyone gets a trophy or medal at the end of the season and everyone is a winner.

 

As Junior Testers or those without a plan, we sometimes operate in the same way.  We all follow the same tests (especially those that work).  Once someone gets a test to work, everyone else rushes away to try the same test or close variations.  We try a lot of the same things over and over again -- that worked last time -- hopefully it will work this time.  The overall plan or direction is completely lost to sight as long as we are doing something that is useful or appears to be useful and fills our time.  When the test goes 'out of bounds' we stop working -- we cannot think outside the box.  Tests that belong to different realms or are orthogonal to what we are used to are not tried.  When the software fails, we frequently expend a lot of effort trying to figure out what we did wrong.  Lastly, we do not realize that we should be recording what we have done (keeping score) and trying to work to some completion.  We test on and on until someone says stop.  I am not sure if everyone is a winner but we all feel that we did our best at the end of the testing.

 

In the next layer up (Under 10 Girls in the case I witnessed), the players know their positions but do not always want to play them.  There is still a knot of players following the ball (pursued by the referee) but a few of the players realize that they need to be outside the area to be ready to receive the ball.  The field has grown to a medium size.  For the most part, the players know which way they are going and are starting to realize what the game is about.  Some players are still totally lost to the game and some are fully focused.  Scores are kept (blowouts are common at this level) and the team knows if they won or lost.  There is some familiarity with the rules about what to do when the ball goes out of bounds although the referee usually has to explain the calls in detail to the players.

 

As Intermediate Testers, we know our positions and what we are supposed to do but the test that someone else is doing looks very interesting.  If only we could be over there doing that test, it would be a lot more interesting.  The interesting and fun / exciting tests attract the most attention.  The dull and uninteresting tests are left to the end.  We mostly know where we are going and what the end result is supposed to be, although it is easy to lose sight of it in the rush or if the project is very large.  We know to record our results and issues and even though we may have little control over the result, we at least know how close we got to it.  Some things are still mysteries and need explanation but they are far less than before.  We can start to imagine other tests.

 

The Under 14 Girls are a completely different team than the others.  Two items are warring here.  One the one hand, everyone knows their position; they can play it and probably one other position as well (since they are moved around).  However, as teenagers and preteens listening to the coach and referee is completely optional!  Balls that roll out-of-bounds are immediately dealt with and some of the players hardly wait for the referee to indicate what is happening.  Calls by the referee are explained but more for the parents than the players and the explanation is simply enough for understanding.  Most of the players have played for a number of years and they all know each other.  Scores tend to be relatively even.

 

As Senior Testers, we are versatile in a number of situations and can fill in for more than one person if necessary.  We will get the job done and we know better than anyone else how to do it.  Project Managers and Test Managers are just there to run interference with other groups and get us what we need to do our job.  Every project (almost) will be brought to a reasonable conclusion with some assurance that the software is good and has been tested.  We know what to do with most situations and do not need more than a brief explanation to move on.  If the situation is new, we have the backing of experience and tools to know how to tackle it.

 

The Under 16 Girls are different yet again.  We have a combination of in-house teams playing people from neighboring towns.  The in-house teams all know each other very well -- somewhere along the line they have played with almost everyone.  They are out there to have fun and comments on the referee (usually a young guy) and their teammates and the opposing team are continuous.  Playing other towns seems to be fun from our end although some of the other towns seem to take it too seriously.  The coach does not tell any of the players what to do; they seem to mainly concentrate on switching players and keeping track of items.  The players themselves coach each other (sometimes seriously and sometimes not) from on the field and on the bench.  Periodically the parents wish that the player(s) on the bench would be sent out to play so that we would not have to hear them so much!

 

So, to what level do these players belong in the testing pantheon?  Are they professional testers, coaching other people and helping themselves?  They might be Project Managers or Test Managers.  They coach themselves; know where their strengths lie and what has to be done to reach project completion.  This is work and we have to have a good time at it.  It is not there to fill the time!