Moving Cheese: Applying the Art of Persuasion for Testers

Picture the scene. You are sitting in a testing conference – Testing Portugal, perhaps. You have heard a brilliant talk – enthusiastic, engaging, and, more importantly, an idea you can use. But you are concerned. You ask a question – “Thank you, speaker, for an excellent talk. My question: How can I convince my team to do this?”. The answer leaves you wanting more. Isn’t the art of persuading your team of this brilliant idea worth more than a couple of minutes? You are not alone. It is a common and sometimes frustrating experience. In this talk, I don’t want to discuss a new testing technique or a flash new technology. Instead, I want to focus on people. The people who will not be at the conference. The people who you work with every day. How can I help you convince them of all the new ideas you are bursting to try after an exciting conference? How can you bring the magic back with you? Both as a tester and a consultant, I have spent countless hours introducing and managing change. Helping teams feel safe about taking risks and trying new ideas. Based on my experience with teams and clients, I want to help you:

• Recognize that persuasion is rooted in understanding people and their motivations;
• Understand why resistance to change is so common and how it can become less scary;
• Develop your own style of persuasion based on foundational principles;
• Have the confidence to sometimes bend the rules a little to show the potential of your idea.

Testers have the opportunity to lift their teams through new ideas. But often, we are not let down by our idea, motivation or ability. Persuading others is our downfall. So we don’t talk about it. Let us change that. Attend this session and start the conversation about how we as a community can influence others. Combine that with your great idea, and I believe you will be unstoppable.