I am a student of testing

I have been a tester for twenty years. I have learned to think of myself as a student of testing and I am a better tester for it.

I am a tester and, as a tester, I learn nearly every day. Over the last week, I have learned some new aspects of the Playwright API. I have also learned more about feedback loops and systems from a lecture by Donella Meadows.

I am also a qualified cricket coach and ‘a student of the game’. The phrase ‘a student of the game’ is something I like about cricket because it shows the humility to learn. The phrase “ a student of the game” is particularly powerful when used to refer to international cricketers because it shows that they still have the humility to learn.

Being a “student of the game” requires humility because learning requires humility. In this sense, humility is not a virtue. It is also not about being humble as a way of being ‘good’. Humility is a principle because it is a necessity for learning.  

Testers need the humility to learn continually because testing is about learning. When we are testing we are learning about the product we are testing, our customers, testing, test automation and more. We need humility to learn from the people we work with, customers and the testing community. 

I am a student of testing.

I would like to thank Dennis Sergent for getting me to think about this.