Management, Mind mapping, Mind trick

Management by mind mapping

A mind trick is a trick, which can be used to confuse people. The following mind trick I used, happened in the real world. I changed the names of the people on purpose.

The count mind trick

During one of my mind map workshops I asked the participants:
“At the count of three you mention the name of your team lead.
One two three.”
A lot of names were mentioned. It was hard to hear one clearly.

“At the count of three you mention the name of the boss of your team lead.
One two three.”
Fewer names were mentioned. Some names could be distinguished.

“At the count of three you mention the name of the your business unit manager.
One two three.”
Almost every name could be distinguished.

“At the count of three you mention the name of the your division manager.
One two three”
Only three name were mentioned: Peter Red, Tony Purple, and Helen Yellow. “

At the count of three you mention the name of the your CEO.
One two three”
“Jack Orange.”
People were a bit surprised, that the same name was mentioned.

I continued with:
“Last evening there was a meeting in the canteen with Jack Orange, Peter Red, Tony Purple, and Helen Yellow. Jack Orange used a mind map to explain his view on the future of our company. If you go to the canteen, you can still see the mind map.”

Breakdown

On the morning of the workshop I met participant of previous workshop Introduction mind mapping.
“Hi Han Toan, will you give a mind map workshop this morning?”
“Yes, this morning.”
“Derek of facility management told me, that there is a mind map in the canteen. Jack Orange, Peter Red, Tony Purple, and Helen Yellow and other hot shots were making a mind map in the canteen last evening.”
“What? Can I see it?”
“Why not?”

Tips

  • become known as the expert on a subject like mister mind map within and outside the company.
  • stimulate sharing of information about your subject.
  • know the hierarchy of the company.
Branding software testing, Business

Can we scale down the tests? Part 2

Sometimes you have a harmonica with the wrong scale. It is hard to scale it down.  A simple solution is to buy harmonicas in all scales. It will cost time and money, but it might save the day.

If a manager walks into your cubicle with a suggestion to scale down tests, then it is time to get the big picture before the decision to skip tests. Let’s go back to George.

Quality is an option

At eleven o’ clock in the morning George joined the meeting of the software testers. Cynthia was not looking very happy.
“What’s wrong with you, Cynthia?”, George asked.
“Management decided to skip the user acceptance test for the navigation system to save time.”, Cynthia answered.
“Did you point out the consequences?”
“Of course the interface can really be improved.”
“Can you prove it?”
“Sure.”
“OK, let’s call the PO for his opinion.”

John joined the meeting of the software testers.
“Hi Cynthia, this is supposed to be a tester only meeting.”
“You are welcome.” Cynthia reassured him. “We won’t bite you.”
“Would you give me a permission to let the other testers have a look to the navigation system?”
“No problem.”

George was studying his laptop.
“According to the user story it is possible to enter the right destination using voice commands within 10 seconds.
Your aunt asked you to come to Paris, which is in the neighborhood of Tupelo.”

First test:
“The destination is Paris.”, Pete said.
“What is destination?” was the answer of the navigation system.
“I want to go to Paris.”
“What means “I want to”?”
“Go to Paris.”
“Go to Paris go to Paris is an invalid voice command.”

Second test:
“Go to Paris.”
“Do you want to go to Paris in Arkansas, Paris in California, Paris in Idaho, Paris in Illinois, Paris in Kentucky, Paris in Maine, Paris in Michigan, Paris in Mississippi, Paris in Missouri, Paris in New York, Paris in Ohio, Paris in Pennsylvania, Paris in Tennessee, Paris in Texas, Paris in Virginia, Paris in Grant County in Wisconsin or Paris in Kenosha County in Wisconsin?”

Third test:
“Go to Paris in the neighborhood of Tupelo.”
“What is neighborhood?”
“Begin again.”
“Go to Paris, which is near Tupelo.”
“How far is near?”
“I don’t know.”
“Give an estimation.”
“I don’t know.”

Fourth test:
“Go to Paris via Tupelo.”
“Do you want to go to Paris in Arkansas, Paris in California, Paris in Idaho, Paris in Illinois, Paris in Kentucky, Paris in Maine, Paris in Michigan, Paris in Mississippi, Paris in Missouri, Paris in New York, Paris in Ohio, Paris in Pennsylvania, Paris in Tennessee, Paris in Texas, Paris in Virginia, Paris in Grant County in Wisconsin or Paris in Kenosha County in Wisconsin?”

Fifth test:
“Go to Tupelo.”
“The destination is Tupelo.”
“Go to Paris, which is closest to Tupelo.”
“Give an estimation.”
“Uuuuuh.”
”What is Uuuuuh?”

George looked at the PO:
“Do you think, that a user acceptance test is a considerable option?”

Branding software testing, Famous tester, Story telling

Are you appreciated as a tester?

Some people might wonder at the size of the cup. My answer is, that I got it from a famous tester. Then the following list of action points is likely to be proposed:

  • Sell it on eBay.
  • Gather proof i.e. pictures.
  • Request Huib Schoots to sign a certificate of authenticity, that he gave this cup to Han Toan Lim for the most intensive and concentrated test session at ..

At that  moment I would interrupt with:
“Time Out dude. You cannot buy appreciation; you have to earn it.”

Test right there

The consultant with a strong HR background in IT looked at me.
“I see those small wheels spinning in your head. If you can read a design document, you can probably write one.”
“I already did.”, I admitted.
He continued: “Then you can describe the flow. If you can describe the flow, then you can program.”
He looked to me with the silent question:
“Why do you not move up the ladder?”

At that moment the time slowed down to a stop. Internally I sighed for 3 seconds. Then time accelerated to the normal speed. Reality snapped back and I was confused. Only a tenth of a second had passed in reality. I saw a man looking at me and waiting for an answer. Like a stubborn school boy I stated: “I just want to test.”

Talking about talking kids

During the holiday my wife talked about the show for children: “The theme is job. So a member of the animation team asked the kids about the job of their father.” I heard, that one of my kids answered with “Not a real job.”. I groaned. Another one said: “Software tester.” My wife imitated the small, hesitant voice of animator: “A software tester?!”

Then she prepared me, that something worse would come. I steeled myself. The next kid said: “Police agent.” The voice of the animator became enthusiastic: “Police agent. Did you hear that: police agent. That is great!” My wife was not pleased. Neither was I.

Yours gratefully

On my last day in the office and my last workday I noticed, that one of the functional application  managers had not dropped by to say goodbye. So I went to his desk. The talk, that followed, was about gone times, the present time and  times to come.

During the talk we had walked to the door to the corridor. It was the door to a new future for me. It was time to say goodbye. While shaking hands the functional application manager extended his left arm and patted on my shoulder. He let his smile disappear and instead he pressed his lips together to suppress his sadness. “You fare well.”
At that very moment I really felt appreciated as a tester.

Sharing knowledge about testing and other things on my mind