Done some validating lately?

The last couple of days have been spent in the developers’ room, helping out with the validating of our releases. Validating for me is about 30% testing and 60% communicating with developers and business people. The last 10% is reflecting on found defects. Validating (or testing as you might put it) is not one of my tasks in my work description but as I put it to our CIO when I discussing the option of working at TUI Nordic, I specifically asked to take part in testing/validating. Why? Some might see testing as a lower level of work but as all people into agile values: this is not the case.

For me, validating is about learning the system, being part of the team, getting to know people and also to reflect on previous work. If the quality is poor in current work: how well have I performed as a leader during the current sprint?

Eat your own dog food!