Skill Development List 2014

Inspired by Erik Brickarp’s Skill Development List, I decided to create my own for 2014. I wrote up the draft January 1, 2014. I don’t mean to accomplish everything on this list this year. It’s not a to-do list. It’s a list of stuff I could do and would like to do as I believe it could help me become a better tester.

Updated March 6, 2015. Eventually, I ended up doing other things than were on my list, such as getting a new job and doing hands-on testing on a project. I haven’t written a reflective blog post about 2014 yet because the beginning of the year was tough due to funerals in the family. I’m not sure I will write one because 2014 seems to become a blur already… It might be a good idea because I tend to forget the good stuff I’ve done.

WRITING

• article for The Testing Planet (http://www.ministryoftesting.com/2014/04/next-level-written-test-reports-meta-level/ reviewers: Huib Schoots (@huibschoots), Jari Laakso (@JariLaakso), Patrick Prill (@TestPappy), Ruud Cox (@ruudcox), David Högberg (@DavidoHogberg).
• article for StickyMinds – I have a draft but haven’t decided when to finish it or where to publish it
• finish up blog posts: BBST, risk reporting, how we use mindmaps, reader/writer resp, reliable reporter – wrote about other stuff instead
• practice explaining testing concepts in writing – didn’t get to it, actually; now it doesn’t look very important anymore

PRACTICE

• mobile app testing – still in the back of my head but haven’t committed yet
• testing challenge (I actually did one in Copenhagen but it was a group setting; I mean to do an individual one by some of the great testers); joined in on a challenge at CAST; I also did a Miagi do challenge and got accepted to Miagi Do school of testing (unfortunately I’ve had no further activites there)
• ask for a coaching session
• join another Weekend Testing session
• practice explaining testing concepts in speech (I guess doing the workshop for programmers on testing will cover this one) – also have practiced this during Transpection Tuesday
• continue practicing discussing testing&asking questions in Transpection Tuesday sessions (added 1/30; just realized this is and has been of critical importance) – the sessions have changed somewhat but otherwise we’re still going strong

PROGRAMMING

• take a Python course (in progress) – still in progress; haven’t committed due to lack of energy
• program a game – nope

COURSES

• create an in-house workshop on testing for programmers (I ran the workshop 3 times as there were almost 30 people)
• Bug Advocacy by AST – not sure I will take it, actually

MENTORING

• keep in touch and have discussions with people who have approached me for advice (currently I’m mentoring a Per Scholas graduate) – done
• get new people to attend PEST (there was a new person at PEST 4.5 but it wasn’t my doing; my testers had other engagements as the heads-up came pretty late) – looks like there will be new folks around
• inspire someone – hopefully I did that
• go to local meetups and find ways to make them even better – went to meetups but didn’t change much about them

SOCIAL

• attend a testing conference (Copenhagen Context, TestBash, NTD, CAST)
• attend a peer conference (PEST 4.5)
• help organize a conference (Nordic Testing Days – in progress)
• mentor someone (added: 1/26, I shall be mentoring a Per Scholas graduate)

VISUALS

• practice sketchnoting and blog about it – have practiced but haven’t blogged about it
• research mindmapping to find good ideas – have read stuff but nothing I could call doing research
• visualize our testing (plan, coverage…) at work – have some examples, so need share

OTHER

• work on focusing on a few key things – the list above is an obvious sign that I suck at it; but I’ve been trying to get the focus right and do less.
• be brave and practice yoga – haven’t done that as much as I would’ve liked
• meditate frequently – also, not as much as I would’ve liked
• write a daily journal entry (success, drawback, emotion) – (I’ve been doing it but not consistently (1/26)) – more or less…
• reflect on my communication skills – I’ve been doing that, found some interesting stuff
• reflect on my learning from mentoring experience – thought about it but haven’t articulated concrete takeaways
• learn to handle pressure and people I don’t like – I feel like I’ve become better at it. Finally.

READ

• the rest of the systems thinking books – oh no
• Tacit&Explicit Knowledge and other stuff by Harry Collins – not yet
• more attention to quality and reflection, less on quantity (less blogs and articles) – more or less