Skype Coaching with James Bach

One of the privileges of being a member of Association for Software Testing are coaching sessions over Skype. Recently, I've had a chance for a lesson with James Bach. It is hard to find someone in testing field who doesn't know or at least heard about him. The most important in his coaching sessions is that he is not giving tutorial nor pure advice. He is challenging you with his questions and posing puzzles. The goal is to learn something through mental struggling.

I asked for such lesson last month and I was very lucky because he found some time for it. We've started lesson from the question : "Are testers allowed to make assumptions?"

It was kind of a tricky question. Since I've started learning the craft no one has ever told me anything about assumptions. I had a feeling that assumptions are bad but can we really work without them? I knew both sides of making assumptions but it was not enough - I couldn't find good example. Besides, I've been feeling like in a court. Anything I would say could be used against me. I really needed to be careful with what I was saying. English is not my mother language, so it was even more challenging. It reminded me that We as Testers need to be aware what we are saying, be careful with making absolute statements and that we always need to be ready to explain our point of view.

Another question James asked me was : "Should you assume, when you are testing, that your test platform is working properly? Or should you question and check that?"

I said that it depends and gave only one example factor : time. The other possible factors where quite insightful

1. Do we have any specific reason to believe that the test platform is malfunctioning? Perhaps someone walked up to you and said "That box is broken!"
2. When we attempt to use it, does it behave in any strange way? (based on experience with similar boxes, or background technical knowledge)
3. Has the box been sitting on the open internet with no firewall or anti-virus protection for more than about 10 minutes?
4. Have you just dropped it on the floor from a significant height?
5. Have you just hit it with a very large mallet?
6. Did you just remove its memory chips?

I would have never thought about such factors if I hadn't been pushed to such question.

Back to the assumptions, James helped me to distinguish between critical and non-critical "assumptions".

1. Are those required to support critical plans and activities. (Changing the assumption would change important behavior.)
2. Are those likely to be made differently by different people in different situations. (The assumption has a high likelihood of being controversial.)
3. Are those needed for an especially long period of time. (The assumption must remain stable.)
4. Are those especially unlikely to be correct. (The assumption is likely to be wrong.)
5. Are those we are expected to declare, by some relevant convention. (It would hurt your credibility to make the assumption lightly.)

Final thought from James was a brilliant comparison between assumptions and bees : "Assumptions to a tester are like bees to a beekeeper"


"We are careful around assumptions, but even being careful we will get stung once in a while but if we try to do away with them, we won't get honey!"


I really enjoyed this coaching session and I am looking forward to the next one.

Alek