LET’S DO THE LIMBO ROCK…

HOW LOOOOW CAN YOU GOOOO?

Everybody has to make a living. Many of us have to make decisions every day in regards to what we will, or will not do in order to be successful, regardless of what our definition of success might be; money, recognition, power, security, etc.

So how much are you willing to sacrifice to get what you want? And WHAT are you willing sacrifice to get what you want? And what does this have to do with QA/QC?

Well, I’ve always considered our field an area that attracts and retains people with a lot of integrity. Part of the definition of “integrity” is “honesty”. You can’t be successful with your testing efforts if you are afraid or unwilling to tell the truth. The other part of the definition is “adherence to moral and ethical principles”. That one is more difficult - morality and ethics vary; you can be true to your own principles and those might not match someone else’s.

What I’m going to throw out there for consideration is that we in the QA/QC bend our own principles on a regular basis. Do we sacrifice our integrity? I don’t know; only you can answer that question.

I’ve been considering my own since the recent debacle involving the ISTQB. I’ve always thought I have a lot of integrity – now I’m not so sure.

If you had been threatened by a large, powerful group, how would you have reacted? Would you have spit in their eye?

Here’s how I would have reacted. First of all, I wouldn’t have threatened the ISTQB in the first place. I don’t care about the ISTQB. It doesn’t bother me that some magazine tends to publish articles that are from ISTQB supporters, or that they accept money for ads from the ISTQB. If I liked the authors and felt there was some merit in their articles, that would justify the cost of the magazine.

The fact that I would be helping to fund the ISTQB probably would not have bothered me. But that is because I have no particular “stand” or feelings in regards to that group; at least no stronger feelings than I have for any certification or association.

But if I DID have strong feelings about it, I would have done what Pradeep did when threatened. I would have kicked sand in their face.

So Pradeep acted with integrity, as he did something difficult and potentially dangerous to himself professionally because of his beliefs.

At the same time, when I went to his site to read the original article, he was advertising for ANOTHER certification, which made equally unlikely claims. This rubbed me the wrong way. It made me question his integrity, because as I do not know him personally, I had no way of knowing whether he was dogging the ISTQB because he wanted to put another certification in its place, because the group he hangs with hates the ISTQB, or because he genuinely believed they were Evil. If he genuinely believed they were evil, then acts of bravery based on principles are admirable and should be supported by the community-at-large, even when we don’t necessarily share those principles.

Once I had thought about this, I started thinking about other, less obvious ways in which we may compromise our integrity in order to get something we want or maintain our status quo. There were a surprising amount of them; some of them are things I’ve poked fun at before, and some are very subtle.

First of all I find, personally, that there are times when I will sacrifice my integrity in order to remain employed. And oddly enough, it doesn’t eat at my conscience much. These tend to be “small” matters. There are times I don’t speak up and say what I think because it would piss off an executive. That would negatively impact my career, and would be potentially devastating to my staff. A manager who is out of favor cannot be effective in getting what their staff needs to survive. So I do my best to think before I speak, and sometimes I choose not to speak. If I do speak, however, I do not lie. That’s where my own personal “line” is drawn in the sand. I will not lie to save myself or my staff. But I don’t do that because I’m some sort of saint-like Polly Pure. I do that because once you start lying, it’s hard to remember what you’ve said to whom, and I do it because I need to respect myself.

Another one of the things I consider “small” involves certification. I can genuinely say that if I needed a certification in order to be employed, I would get it whether I agreed with the principles or not. So I suppose I believe that eating trumps integrity. But when I really think about it, that is not especially admirable or brave. It brings up the questions of whether you should be willing to “die for your art”. Some people would. While I can admire that level of integrity, I guess I really don’t respect it all that that much. Being certified is a bagatelle and merely indicates you understand a given body of knowledge. As far as I know, no one smelling of sulphur, dressed in a red suit, with horns and a tail, demands you sign away your soul when you get certified.

In this region, for example, you cannot get work as a Project Manager unless you have your PMP certification. Have any of you ever studied for or taken the PMP? I have. Studied, that is. Everyone here at a certain level is required to be PMI trained. My company could care less if you go get certified, and if you do it’s on your dime (um, on your $500), but they want everyone trained. That was months of really difficult studying and some really heinous exams. Did I pass? Yes. Was it difficult? Yes. But here’s the real reason it was difficult. The PMP questions are all geared towards what the PMI believes in – THEIR principles of project management. The more experience you have of your own, the more difficult it is to say you’d do X in Y situation, when you know you’d really do Z. And the part of the exam I had the most trouble with? The QA/QC portion. I flunked it the first time. Everything taught by the PMI in regards to QA/QC is pretty much the opposite of what an experienced test manager or analyst would do in a given situation. So you have to learn WHAT THE PMI WOULD DO in a given situation and learn to apply that to the situational exam questions they throw at you. So do I support the PMI? Again, I don’t care about the PMI any more than I care about ISTQB. I neither love them or hate them; I’m indifferent. I do know that I strongly disagree with what they teach about managing QA/QC. But I did “learn” what their body of knowledge believes. If I were certified, that’s all the certification would mean. I certainly wouldn’t apply what was taught there to real-life situations. So does that mean I lack integrity, since if I needed that certification to get hired, I would get it? Yes, in all honesty I would have to say it indicates I lack integrity in that regard. I would obtain a certification I did not believe in to get a job.

So look at your own situation; are there times you sacrifice your own sense of integrity and honesty? Are you OK with it?

There are people in our field that are dependent on the good will of either an individual or organization for their livelihood. This is really no different than being dependent on the good will of an executive manager. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just the Way Things Are. But I think we all really need to examine who we’re selling ourselves to and whether the price is really something we’re willing to pay. Some of us sell ourselves to others in the hopes of receiving favors in the future. Some do it to belong to a group. Some do it for money, or referrals, or prestige.

Let’s talk about blogs for a minute. Do you advertise on your blog? Do you personally believe in and recommend every single person or entity that advertises with you? If not, are you OK with that nibble at your integrity? Take a look at your blog list, because that’s advertising too. Why are you promoting those people? Is it because you really believe in them and read them regularly? Or is it because “it’s the thing to do”? Or in hopes of favors from those on the list? Or because you belong to a group? Do you feel free to blog in direct opposition to the opinions of either your advertisers or the people on your blog list? Have you ever done that? Have you ever publically supported or smooched up to someone because of who they were and not because it’s really what you believed? Have you ever changed or modified a blog or opinion in order to please someone you considered important? Is the price of any of that worth the loss of freedom? In some cases, it is. And that’s a question only you can answer for yourself. But every time you do those things, you lose a little bit of yourself or your freedom. It needs to be worth it to you and is worth thinking about on occasion.

I’m going to tell you the truth; I see situations and comments or blogs that are such patent suck-ups and/or cop-outs it’s positively nauseating. I read all kinds of things that are hypocritical. But it’s easy to accuse others of lack of integrity when you never examine your own; hence this musing of mine. I’m looking at my own and can definitely see some weaknesses there. What about you?

Let’s return to a really common and currently hot topic. Certifications and advertisement; who takes what from whom. I see there are some people that are violently opposed to ISTQB certification. At the same time, however, those very people may contribute articles to either Better Software magazine (or subscribe to same), attend, or speak at STAR conferences. Has anyone read SQE training materials? I have. They are affiliated with both ISTQB and PMI; both of those affiliations are proudly displayed on their literature. How do you balance those things? Clearly, speaking or writing benefits the author and turning a blind eye to the affiliations of the group sponsoring them is a sacrifice they are willing to make. At the same time, however, they are, albeit indirectly, supporting the very things they passionately oppose. Me? I’ve said before that I really don’t care about those things, so those affiliations have no impact on me or my own principles. But for someone that is violently opposed on one hand and taking money/time/exposure with the other, well, let’s just say I find that a bit shaky, ethically speaking.

I’m not a judge and jury; I’m pretty practical and understand the whys and wherefores of this stuff. But while the concept of selling one’s support for (something of value) doesn’t bother me, hypocrisy kind of sticks in my craw. So my questions are - What are you willing to do or sacrifice to get what you want? And is it or has it been worth the price?

I think we’re all doing the Limbo Rock. But the bars are adjustable according to how low you can go. Not everyone wants to be a Limbo Star…but I think a lot of us can and do go a lot lower than we care to admit….