Better Software - November 2008 - (Page 19)

Test Connection and leaves out other information. Comparing and contrasting two maps may suggest ideas that neither map covers. Some suggest that a map must accurately reflect the territory in order to be useful, but there are plenty of reasons to think otherwise. Subway maps often display the relationships between stations but not the actual distances between them. A story in Sensemaking in Organizations, by Karl Weick, suggests a more profound example of usefulness despite inaccuracy. A Hungarian Army unit is on patrol in the Swiss Alps. A big storm comes up, and one platoon doesn’t return to camp for a day, two days, three days. The lieutenant is now panicked … and suddenly the entire platoon walks back into camp. “We thought you were lost for good! Where have you been?” “Well, when the storm came up, we took shelter. When the weather cleared, we realized that we were lost. One of us had a map, though, so we looked at it, and we realized that if we went down the hill, we’d hit a river, and if we followed the river, we’d get to the town … and here we are!” The lieutenant looked at the map and realized to his surprise that it wasn’t a map of the Alps, but of the Pyrenees. Says Weick: This raises the intriguing possibility that when you’re lost, any old map will do … maybe when you are confused any old strategic plan will do. Strategic plans are a lot like maps. They animate and orient people. Once people begin to act, they generate tangible outcomes in some context, and this helps them discover what is occurring, what needs to be explained, and what should be done next. Managers keep forgetting that it is what they do, not what they plan, that explains their success. They keep giving credit to the wrong thing—namely, the plan— and having made this error, they then spend more time planning and less time acting. They are astonished when more planning improves nothing [1]. It’s easy to see how covering a map might be useful. Ultimately, though, it’s what people think and what people do that make the difference. Analyzing a map and planning how to cover it—test design—can suggest ideas that the map on its own doesn’t cover. That might spark us to annotate the map we’ve got or to create a new one. Comparing the map to the territory—test execution— takes us places where we learn things, even when the map is limited or inaccurate. Excellent testing isn’t just about covering the map—it’s also about exploring the territory, which is the process by which we discover things that the map doesn’t cover. {end} refereNceS: [1] Weick, Karl E. Sensemaking in Organizations. Sage Publications Inc., 1995. p 54-55. Of course there are ways to learn about the product other than maps or diagrams. What representations do you use and how do you cover them efficiently? Follow the link on the StickyMinds.com homepage to join the conversation. DON’T BE SHY www.StickyMinds.com NOVEMBER 2008 BETTER SOFTWARE 19 http://www.StickyMinds.com http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/better http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/better http://www.StickyMinds.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Better Software - November 2008

Better Software - November 2008 Contents Mark Your Calendar Contributors eLightenment Technically Speaking Code Craft Test Connection Management Chronicles Getting Agile with User-Centered Design Google Web Toolkit Simple Summaries of Complex Projects Product Announcements 10 Things You Might Not Know About … The Last Word Ad Index

Better Software - November 2008

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