About a couple of years back, I had an opportunity to read "How I learn stuff" from James Bach and was excited about it. I had a concern about it that it was not complete and kept asking James for his plan on it.
Little did I know then that it would turn out to be a great book for the community and not one that was accessible to those who work with James. When I learnt from James that Simon & Schuster have agreed to publish it, I was excited about it and my urge to read the complete stuff skyrocketed. I must say that I had reviewed its initial draft and reading the book today is a fascinating experience.
I also thought I had enough money to gift it to all those people whom I care about. I certainly do care about those who read my blog and here is a gift that Simon & Shuster, James Bach has provided - It's free download till July 24th. The hard copy is going to be released on my birthday. ( Just a coincidence )
Why is this book one of the most important one's for software testers?
Learning
I recognize that learning and unlearning are skills that are absolutely important for any profession anyone is in. Today, I see a lot of testers struggling to learn the latest version of a tool when it is released, although they are aware of its earlier version. Learning requires mental modeling. If you have a model of learning then no tool or none of its version can intimidate you. Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar can be of help to you.
Scouting
We witness so many tools everyday that we didn't know earlier. When we discover a tool that could have solved our problems in our last project, we are worried about what tools we are missing to solve today's problem. If you learn how to scout, you wouldn't find it tough to find the tool you want for today's need. We are in the Google age and we don't get to know the right link although we search for it because Google is not kind to everyone. It is kind only to those who know how to scout. Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar can be of help to you.
Competitiveness
All of us want to be the most competitive in our field but honestly, how many of us are putting in the work that requires to do so or how many of us know what to do to be able to get competitive. Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar can be of help to you.
Writing
I see that some testing bloggers mostly ape the way other successful bloggers write their posts. Doing that for sometime they are lost of what their original ways are and get into the rut of aping. While aping could be a way to start, it ain't the way to proceed. Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar can be of help to you.
Fear of unknown
When you ask someone why aren't they self employed, most often you would find that they fear the unknown. The unknown is always bad according to most of us. I meet credible testers in India and ask them, "Why do you think you can't be an independent consultant?" and they say, "Currently my job is secure". Recession times guys - there ain't anything called "secured job". Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar can be of help to you.
Value of reading
Most testers don't read books. What a great advantage they offer to people like me. Good for me but so bad for them. I am concerned about them. I wish they read just this book ( which is for free till July 24th ). I wish they read because I think after reading this, it might be influential enough to them to be able not offer me the advantage that I had.
To all those testers who don't have the practice of reading books: In case you come across this post or the book and you choose not to read the book, no one can stop you from remaining in your most stable state - ignorance.
