Taking action to lead software testing at WeTest Athens 2025
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WeTest Athens conference talk by Kari Kakkonen and Marko Rytkönen. We discuss that company leadership can not delegate all testing responsibility. They need to lead testing actively - act to lead! For making this easier we introduce a 8 step heuristic ACT2LEAD. Adding to testing to everything a company does, choosing testing based on the context, making testing transparent, using 2 forms of testing: test automation and human testing, learning from testing, enabling a testing and quality culture, adapting testing based on risks, and making testing diverse.
Taking action to lead software testing at WeTest Athens 2025
- 1. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net ACT 2 LEAD Taking action to lead software testing WeTest Athens 2025
- 2. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net ● 30 years of expertise around testing and test leadership ● Author of ‘ACT 2 LEAD Software Testing Leadership Handbook’ ● Voluntary work, public talks ● Married, two daughters, 70’s & 80’s heavy rock, travelling, cycling, floorball Marko Rytkönen QA Coach at Hidden Trail, Advisor at Marko Rytkönen Oy marko.rytkonen@act2lead.net +358 50 5066 405 https://www.linkedin.com/in/markorytkonen/
- 3. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net kari.kakkonen@act2lead.net +358 40 5239004 https://www.linkedin.com/in/karikakkonen/ Kari Kakkonen Service Owner, Customer Expertise Development, Gofore ● Almost 30 years in testing, a bit less in agile, DevOps, and AI in all industries ● Author of ‘ACT 2 LEAD Software Testing Leadership Handbook’ and ‘Dragons Out’ ● EuroSTAR Testing Excellence Award, Tester of the Year, Exemplary DevOps Instructor ● Volunteer at FiSTB, ISTQB, TMMi etc. ● Married, 1 son, kayaker, snowboarder, roleplayer, a cappella singer
- 4. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net How many of you think that… …testing is really understood* by leadership (as CxO’s, directors, managers, product owners, etc.)? * e.g., terms, test process/types/approaches, dependencies, competencies…
- 5. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net How many of you think that… …testing is really led* on all needed leadership levels? * e.g., vision, strategy, capabilities, competencies…
- 6. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net Our observations There are way too many people* who should understand and lead testing, but they don’t. * e.g., director, manager, product owner, tester…
- 7. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net Our conclusions Testing is not led as it should, and it results in poor quality testing and software. Testing is poorly understood and not valued as a profession.
- 8. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net What is test leadership? ● Leading testing and testers through the product lifecycle ○ Inspiring, encouraging and empowering people ○ Respecting the autonomy of teams and individuals ● Ensuring that testing is diverse, timely, and of good quality, compared to business needs and risks ○ Organizational level: Company or department level ○ Operational level: Product, project, or team level ● Cannot be separated from other leadership work
- 9. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net Test leadership in organizational level Test leadership Test analysis Test design Test execution Test planning Test leadership Operational level Project team Operational level Product team Holistic testing infinite loop: https://janetgregory.ca/testing-from-a-holistic-point-of-view/ Test leadership levels, example
- 10. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net Test leadership at organizational level ● Building testing capabilities in a long-term ○ Strategic leadership ○ Empowering the organization ○ Setting the direction, structure and harmony ● Helping leadership and managers to lead testing ● Providing transparency to the current state of testing across the organization ○ Look for systemic and team-level problems ● Keep it in own hands! Tools Methods Process Competences People with time Budget Quality culture
- 11. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net Test leadership at operational level ● Operational excellence in a short-term ○ Tactical leadership ○ Test management and self-leadership ● Aligning testing to the ○ Context ○ Development and Operation processes ○ Organizational level testing guidelines ● Helping teams to get all testing done ● Leading yourself and others to the test better ● Providing transparency to test results Operations Testing Test env. mgmt Programming Design Requirement mgmt
- 12. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net Said by Edwards Deming “Support of top management is not sufficient… They must know what they must do. These obligations can not be delegated. Support is not enough: action is required.” Out of the Crisis, Deming, Edwards.
- 13. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net What is heuristic? Approach to problem-solving that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be perfect, but is sufficient for reaching a short-term goal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuristic
- 14. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net ACT 2 LEAD heuristic Add Add testing to all aspects so that testing is not a separate process or phase. Lead it as a whole. Organizational level Operational level Budgets, contracts, team structures… Plans, development process, DoD…
- 15. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net ACT 2 LEAD heuristic Context Understand your context, and lead testing accordingly. There is not just one correct way to lead testing. Organizational level Operational level Business, regulations, contracts, budgets…
- 16. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net ACT 2 LEAD heuristic Transparency Create transparency in testing. The better the visibility, the better it can be led. Organizational level Operational level Culture, capabilities, vendors… Test results, quality, risks…
- 17. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net ACT 2 LEAD heuristic 2 Humans are good at exploring the product, and automation is good at checking the product. Organizational level Operational level Budget, time, metrics.… Pipelines, test automation, exploratory testing…
- 18. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net ACT 2 LEAD heuristic Learn Learn to test and test to learn. Organizational level Operational level Culture, community, training… Debriefs, feedback, pair testing…
- 19. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net ACT 2 LEAD heuristic Enable Enable quality culture where the importance of quality and testing are understood. Organizational level Operational level Budget, trust, team structure… Time, competencies, tools…
- 20. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net ACT 2 LEAD heuristic Adapt Adapt testing to risks. Organizational level Operational level Risk identification and mitigation, focus testing on high-risk areas…
- 21. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net ACT 2 LEAD heuristic Diverse Ensure testing is diverse enough. The more diverse the testing, the more diverse information you get. Organizational level Operational level Recruiting, vendors, improvement… Test types and approaches, test environments...
- 22. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net Key takeaways ● Leadership must be aware and skilled to lead testing. ● Leadership cannot delegate all actions; they must take the initiative and actively lead testing. ● Two test leadership levels: Organizational level and operational level. ● Help leadership to lead testing. ● Use ACT 2 LEAD!
- 23. Copyrights © Marko Rytkönen Oy and Dragons Out Oy www.act2lead.net Questions? Visit: www.act2lead.net Order: https://bit.ly/act2lead-book Contact and network: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markorytkonen/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/karikakkonen/ Conference promo code: E-book for 20 USD (+ VAT), until May 31 https://leanpub.com/act2lead/c/WeTest2025