Contracts to Converse : Transforming from manager to tester

For years I’d enviously looked through the agile window. When I got the opportunity to climb through it I was excited by the challenge. In May 2018 I took a massive leap of faith, going from managing 8 figure contracts to working in a team as a modern tester and agile coach. Still on the roller coaster journey, I want to share with others my failures, challenges, successes and insights.

Role transformation is challenging, especially when the goals and examples aren’t always consistent and clear. With the broad goal being transforming to new ways of working, I’ve looked to industry thought leaders for guidance and inspiration. It has brought a mountain of skills to digest and learn alongside the day job of helping the team to deliver software. Early on I identified humility and patience being important behaviours, but hasn’t always been enough. The journey started well but a succession of challenges was around the corner; some obvious, but most complex. Frequent adaptation as well as resilience has helped me to navigate the storms. Despite ups and downs the journey has been hugely rewarding.

I am still on the journey and despite suffering from impostor syndrome, I am performing well and continue to improve. I now have time to help lead our Testing Practice, teach out skills, as well as develop various communities at John Lewis. I want to share my and my team’s story to help people in similar positions to learn from my experiences.

Additional info for reviewers:

Key takeaways

Clear examples of what you need to learn as a modern tester

Approaches and resources I used for learning

Why it is important to remember the people factor

Lessons learnt from my approach

Presentation approach

Mind map and story arc for the structure

Visual slides, with minimal/zero text for the format

By the end of April I will have 1st draft of my updated presentation

I will present a few times prior to event, including to Accenture