You Have to Start Somewhere

I was speaking with a client recently who asked a lot of great questions. He was the manager of a small QA team, and really had a good feel for automation. I addressed everything he asked about, and then he told me that he had one other member of his team who had just a few "quick questions."

After speaking with this person for a few minutes, it was blatantly obvious that not only did he have no clue about test automation, he didn't have a clue about testing in general. To top it off, his initial attitude toward me was rather rude. My first reaction was one of mixed shock and frustration, but then I did what William Ury suggests in his negotiation book "Getting Past No" - I went to the balcony.

Basically this concept means you distance yourself from your emotions and your natural reactions - in essence, you step back from the situation and look at it with different eyes. I tried to put myself in this person's shoes. He was being asked to do something that he wasn't qualified for, and he was probably frustrated about that. Given today's economy, he was probably also scared that if he couldn't grasp these concepts, he might be out of a job.

So I stepped back and listened to his concerns and what he was trying to achieve. Then I addressed each concern in turn, and gave him lots of opportunities to ask questions or get clarification. The end result was a successful session. He admitted he had a lot of learning to do, but he felt really good about his chances to succeed.

My takeaway here is that everyone has to start somewhere. After doing test automation for so long, it's easy to forget that there was once a time when I didn't know a thing about it. I've posted a note above my desk that says "You were an English Lit Major" to remind myself that I asked all those really basic questions once too, and that perspective is part of the key to making other people successful as they learn about testing and test automation.