Common Mistakes in Managing Testing

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   In my book, Perfect Software and Other Illusions About Testing, I present a list of a dozen common mistakes made when managing testing. 
   
   Here are the first six items on the list. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
1. Not honoring testers: If you aren’t going to believe what the testers uncover, either you have the wrong people or you need to get serious about helping them build their credibility. Testing is never just a matter of hiring and hoping.
   
   
2. Over-honoring testers: If you let them make your decisions for you, then you should step down and let them earn the manager’s salary.
   
   
3. Scapegoating testers: Even worse than over-honoring testers is pretending to honor them—manipulating them to give you the answers you want, appearing to act on that “independent” assessment, then blaming them later if that assessment turns out to be damagingly wrong (or taking credit if it turns out to be right).
   
   
4. Not using the information gleaned from testing or other sources: If you’re going to ignore information or go ahead with predetermined plans despite what the tests turn up, don’t bother testing. (Actually, it can’t really be considered information if you don’t use it.)
   
   
5. Making decisions that are emotional, not rational: Not that you can be perfectly rational, but you can at least try to be calm and in control of your emotions when you make decisions.
   
   
6. Not evaluating the quality of test data: Numbers are just numbers. Learn to ask, “What was the process used to obtain this number?” “What does this number mean?”
   
   
   
   The remaining six mistakes can be found in the second chapter of the book.
   
   
   Or, you can purchase the book as part of the entire eight-book set of The Tester's Library at a bargain price.