Testing Thoroughly Requires Safety

Repeated software incidents led to system downtime, lost revenue, and a decrease in customer service. Team debriefs revealed that many of these incidents were preventable failures that occurred because (a) a lack of psychological safety on the team, (b) testing was considered the sole responsibility of testers, and (c) the team did not anticipate and prepared for what could go wrong. We first had to foster a psychologically safe environment where team members felt free to discuss obstacles to testing, such as a lack of environmental parity. A safe environment enabled the team to identify creative ways of addressing testing limitations. Collective ownership for the testing process grew out of each team member's understanding of how their role contributed to the testing process. By practicing futurespectives, the team developed the skill for anticipating what could go wrong with each software release. In this presentation, testing leaders will learn techniques for fostering psychological safety on their teams. They will also learn techniques and practices that will foster a testing attitude on their teams. Finally, testing leaders will learn how to conduct futurespectives, which will help their teams anticipate potential problems.