"Some birds aren't meant to be caged, their feathers are just too bright"- Morgan Freeman, Shawshank Redemption. This blog is from one such bird who couldn't be caged by organizations who mandate scripted software testing. Pradeep Soundararajan welcomes you to this blog and wishes you a good time here and even otherwise.

Friday, July 02, 2010

Heart of a tester

In 1954, when software testing was just about taking birth, there were two groups that started to form. I was as curious as you are right now, to know what those two groups stood for. One of the groups christened as, "Kuzusu", had a thought that good testing would reduce the number of billable hours to deliver a good enough product and hence had to be avoided. The other group christened, "Shidachi", stood for good testing that can save a lot of stakeholders time and money to deliver a good enough product.

Things started getting hostile. People from the two groups tried killing each other. That's how much they believed in the group they claimed to represent. One or two people being killed once in a while didn't make a difference.  Just a few days before the Christmas that year, there was a huge battle and at least five dozen people from both groups were killed. That's when a lot of people started to propose a treaty and cease fire between the two groups. On 3rd March, 1955, the famous treaty in history was written. "Treaty of brain fight instead of blood", was signed by all members of those two groups in front of the President of United States, South Africa, India, China, Japan, Sweden and Britain. 

Signing the treaty meant; anyone who violates the treaty shall be killed by their respective country administration. The country where many such killings are observed might lose its eligibility to get outsourced testing projects. There was a twist to the treaty. It not just included the names of those who signed the treaty but all future software testers were presumed to have signed on it.

The first meeting of the Kuzusu group after the treaty was held in 8th October, 1956 in an undisclosed location. The outcome of that meeting was; more the number of people on Kuzusu side, the easier it is to dominate the Shidachis.

While Kuzusus were still at the meeting, Shidachis had a plan for the future. The plan was pretty simple; to discover, invent, learn, practice and demonstrate thinking skills that would lead to better testing and better product. So, Kuzusus were focused on Head Count in their group and Shidachis were focused on Brain count in their group.

The common thing they realized through a series of meetings is that they needed to lose their identity and mingle among future software testers. All websites, boards, banners, ads, real estate, documents, registration, news paper citing, notes, floppy disks, photographs and tapes were destroyed. The only thing existing to prove about the existence of these two groups is the treaty document. The next time you visit National Meuseum of American History - Kenneth E Berhing Center, Washington DC, make sure you see beyond certain wall posters there. One with a sword marked on the right bottom corner has the treaty document in its back. 

Ever since 1957, these two groups started to influence the upcoming generation of software testers with their principles but not in the name of Kuzusu or Shidachi. We never know if these groups are continuing to meet and make new strategies to fight each other. We may never know that. 

After so many years, we don't even know if Kuzusus and Shidachis are the ones with whom we interact everyday at our work. They are dressed up as our colleagues and friends in our industry. We don't even know if we are the channel or follower of one of these groups. Obviously, it is nearly impossible to identify or differentiate between a modern day Kuzusu and Shidachi, because they all appear like one, doing testing and wanting to do it better.  

We all want Shidachi group to win. Even Kuzusus would publicly speak about wanting the Shidachis to win and that is how they can remain camouflaged. Another twist to the story happened in July 2006 when a new group was formed by someone somewhere. This group didn't want to give themselves a name and remained anonymous from first. Their objective is; we don't care if good or bad testing is happening as long as we are getting paid, hikes and promotions as regularly as possible.

That's it. It has become all the more tough for the Shidachis to strike large success. You just can't say that you belong to the fourth group who doesn't believe in all this. You are already one among the three. The only problem is, it is hard to know which group you actually belong to. You might have thought while reading this that you belong to Shidachi and the people with whom you work with are Kuzusus. That's exactly how the Kuzusus want you to think because that's the way they do too. Finally, to an outsider, you and the people with whom you work might appear as the third group who doesn't care about good or bad testing as long as you are being paid.

So, the quest for the current and future generation software testers is not about identifying which group they belong to but to work with each other to win hearts. The fight of the brain is as important as the love of the heart. The first organ developed in a mother's womb is the heart and we shouldn't be ignoring it in our fight of the brains.

So, dear reader, whoever you are, if I have said things to you in the past either in this blog or in forum discussions that offended you or made you feel hurt, please forgive me. Help me to be of help to you in future. Its time we consider winning each others heart and brain. 

Also welcome to the Hridaya group!

19 comments:

Gunjan Jain said...

Sir, You just write too good. I think, somewhere we are all part of that third group in our mind and working towards it as a part of Shidachi. But, at the end, what matters is you are winnin ppl's heart.

Good to join you in the Hridaya Group. :)

Incarnated Atma said...

Pradeep,

Let me tell you that i am one of your fan and an admirer. I have read almost all of your blogs and always kept looking for more from your end. I didn't post comments to all those blogs because i believed in those thoughts and commented only to those blogs where i needed better understanding or didn't quite agree 100%.

I believe people interacted with you, knew the passion you possess towards the good testing. Hope, many understood it. Fight was against good, bad and ugly and nothing personal.

Btw, you conveyed the message in a very nice way. Felt like, i was reading a spy thriller :-)
Keep mentoring,
keep rocking...

Cheers,
Vijay...

Parimala Hariprasad said...

Hi Pradeep,
Outstanding Post yet again!

You might have thought while reading this that you belong to Shidachi and the people with whom you work with are Kuzusus. That's exactly how the Kuzusus want you to think because that's the way they do too

The first thought that came to my mind was I don't care if I belong to Kuzusus or Shidachis but definitely not the third group. The third group is capable of spoil the other two who are atleast trying hard in their own ways to better themselves.

I would also like to add that we can't really pigeonhole ourselves as one of Kuzusus or Shidachis as easily as it appears to be for the reason that we seem to take on different facets in different situations. Ok. All I am saying is its context driven even if Kuzusus are going to hate me for this statement :).

Awesome Post,
Keep Rocking! God Bless!

Regards,
Parimala Shankaraiah

Selim Mia said...

Hi Pradeep,
This is really an incredible post!!!
Despite hardtime i can't stop myself to read the post on later time (from last couple of days i can't leave office before 9pm everyday due to immense workload).

i anticipated and wish not to belong on third group (anonymous group)
i hope i may belong to Hridaya group :)

-Selim

Pradeep Soundararajan said...

@Gunjan,

Welcome to the Hridaya group :)

@Pari,

Thanks. Your comments are encouraging.

@Vijay,

Thanks for your comment. I am glad you enjoyed the writing.

Pradeep Soundararajan said...

@Selim Mia,

You won many hearts at BWST2 when you traveled from Dhaka to Bangalore.

Welcome to the Hridaya group.

Krishnaveni said...

Hi Pradeep,
Thanks for teaching a great lesson through this awesome post.. the way you convey messages makes a lasting impression such that the lesson learnt out of it is never forgotten, but remembered to be followed always... thanks a bunch for teaching us many things.

Unknown said...

Ive got family who have been testing sw since the early 60s and still have an interest. They know nothing about these groups.

PSK said...

"So, the quest for the current and future generation software testers is not about identifying which group they belong to but to work with each other to win hearts."

Incredible thought. Sometimes the wars are fought within while the world watches in amusement. Divided we might think but I guess its time united we stand.

Jassi said...

What more do I say, everybody has already said about your post.

I am already a part of the Hridaya Group:)Just want to win you & everyone by my Brain :)

we don't care if good or bad testing is happening as long as we are getting paid, hikes and promotions as regularly as possible.
Very True,this is the advice given by most today almost every day.

I believe & Reiterate Its time we consider winning each others heart and brain.

All the best,
Cheers,
Jassi

H!M@N$HU said...

Hi Pradeep,

Until I discovered your blog, I was just doing testing. Then I started reading your blog posts and other articles and that has helped me a lot in doing my job effectively. You have motivated me indirectly and I am a great fan of yours.

Thanks for posting good articles and sharing great experiences which are helping thousands of testers worldwide. You are doing great contribution to the community.

I am happy to be a member of the Hridaya Group.

Keep Posting. Thanks.
Himanshu Patel

Nusrat said...

Hi Pradeep,

What a post! I wish I could post like you. Anyway very educational post for tester such me :).

Nusrat

Sajeev Kesavan said...

Good one... nice words for the testing community.... Sajeev

harrybangalore said...

I was wondered by reading, people used to kill each other for making better process. I can sense the people passion for testing.

Sir thanks for sharing, we use brain and heart towards testing..

Cheers
Harish

Anonymous said...

Good One!!!

DM said...

Good One !!!

jaiwanth said...

Pradeep,
Your blogs not only act as source of very rich information but also awaken our conscience

and motivate us like none other.
Your way of presentation to throw light on the problem and the best fact is after

educating people you dont provide the answers as you would want each and everyone to do

some soul searching and get to the correct answer.
Really have been enriched reading your blog, still curse my fate for not being able to

attend your training session.
Nonetheless great great blog .

Priya said...

Hi Pradeep,
Good Post.
I have a deep passion for testing, but in some organization there comes a compulsion where we have to join in the third group. What do you propose we do in this scenario.
Thanks,
Priya

Pradeep Soundararajan said...

@Priya,

I have a deep passion for testing, but in some organization there comes a compulsion where we have to join in the third group. What do you propose we do in this scenario.

If you allow someone or some organization to suppress your passion then you have to ask yourselves; am I really passionate?

How about doing things outside work that demonstrates your passion to the world? For instance, look at weekendtesting.com folks

There are tons of other ways you could explore. Maybe by looking at that an organization who wants passionate people might invite you for a discussion. It has happened to many testers and it can happen to you, too.