Testers or those managing testing projects need to be pragmatic

Definition of Pragmatic

A word that I have been using this week is pragmatic which is defined as, dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations. Say for example, you join a new project and you have lots of ideas on what you might like to do. You want to do pair testing or implement the three amigos to increase collaboration across the team. Perhaps even do workshops on risk storming or example mapping. However, there are too many ideas and you cannot implement them all. What do we do in this scenario? This is where we need to use our critical thinking skills and ask ourselves some questions.

Some questions

• If I apply this, what will the outcome be?
• Of all my ideas, which one will add the most value?
• How much time and energy does my idea take to apply?
• Do I have allies in implementing this?

Why do you need to be pragmatic

• Theory might get in the way of getting on and doing.
• You can’t do everything, so focusing on what adds value in the moment is important.
• Doing one thing well is better than doing too many things not as well.