Testing & Quality Leadership Summit

First year computer science students learn a lot about algorithms and data structures. First time leaders often think about how they are going to lead (algorithms) without giving much thought to how to organize for success (data structures). Join Mike Fulkerson in an engaging discussion on Data Structures for Leadership—successful structures for helping teams organize their work, cultivate future leaders, lead from within, and many more. Mike shares the practical leadership techniques gleaned from his experience as a US Navy officer and a public company CTO.

We’ve heard that leaders eat last and that they ask why. We’ve heard that leadership is doing the right things or influencing others. We’ve heard that leaders have vision and take people where they want to go. Leadership might be all of these things. But does that describe you as a test leader? Great test leaders lead from their personal mission. They adapt to their context. They can solve problems—not alone, but with others. They develop other people, so they can create an organization that has more capacity than it did before. Join Johanna Rothman to learn how you can discover your personal mission. Learn how you can increase your adaptability, a hallmark of a great leader. Consider how you might solve problems across the organization, helping other people develop their skills to benefit themselves and the organization.

Known as the “Pragmatic Manager,” Johanna Rothman helps organizational leaders identify problems and risks in their product development and recognize potential “gotchas,” seize opportunities, and remove impediments. Johanna is the technical editor for agileconnection.com and is author of Manage Your Job Search, Hiring Geeks That Fit, Manage Your Project Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects, the 2008 Jolt Productivity award-winning Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management, and Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management. She is currently writing a book about agile program management. In addition, Johanna writes columns for StickyMinds.com and projectmanagement.com, and blogs on jrothman.com, and createadaptablelife.com.

Join with your peers in an engaging and highly interactive session to discuss the issues that concern you most. Using answers to the question “As a Leader, What is Keeping You Up at Night?” posed at Thursday’s evening reception, participants will form small groups to work on finding solutions to pressing test management issues. Discussions will review identified issues, barriers to change, and focus on innovative strategies and practical next steps. At the end of the think tank, all feedback will be collected and posted online to encourage further discussion and collaboration.

Jeffery Payne is CEO and founder of Coveros, Inc., a software company that builds secure software applications using agile methods. Since its inception in 2008, Coveros has become a market leader in secure agile principles and was recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in the country. Previously, Jeffery was chairman of the board, CEO, and cofounder of Cigital, Inc., a market leader in software security consulting.  Jeffery has published more than thirty papers on software development and testing, and testified before Congress on issues of national importance, including intellectual property rights, cyber terrorism, and software quality.