tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9095646833081959502024-03-19T02:00:04.696+01:00A Tester's JourneyThoughts and stories on learning, agile, testingLisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-10033819665248320482024-03-17T22:07:00.010+01:002024-03-19T00:31:53.909+01:00 Contributing in New Ways - Everything Everywhere All at Once<p style="text-align: left;">It's been a while since I last wrote down my thoughts about things that happened, things I've done, things that evolved. And a lot had happened since beginning of the year when I announced <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2024/01/my-personal-challenge-for-2024-scary-new-grounds.html" target="_blank">my personal challenge for 2024</a>. I would have loved to share a lot more frequently about my endeavors in small social media snippets, yet the last months had been not only busy but energy-draining (due to other aspects). There simply wasn't any energy left to share what I'm doing, and I rather spent the energy available on the doing itself.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">As I'm slowly getting back to a more sustainable pace, and back to the kind of busy that I personally like and that gives me energy instead of just taking it, I'm finally ready to share a few things.</p><p style="text-align: left;">So, how did I contribute in new ways in the last months?</p><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">New Work Contributions</h2><p style="text-align: left;">At work, I completed my first backend feature. I've worked on the backend before, yet rather focusing on cleaning up legacy, adding tests, improving things, adapting existing features. Yet I simply never had the opportunity before to add a completely new feature. We currently only have one dedicated backend engineer in the team, so I'm once again filling a gap. Admittedly, a gap that I really like and am way more familiar with than with other endeavors.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I gave a bunch of company-wide learning sessions again, this time experimenting with two new formats. One on offering a dedicated public learning hour on all things security, one on sharing stories from my own team to initiate conversations how to grow the culture we want to see. Both formats were planned as a series of at least five sessions. Both had high quality (though low quantity) audiences so far, and people could take things with them after each session. I am calling that a success.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I've also learned a lot more about very domain-specific compliance topics, processes, audits, and more. These are not topics I'm keen on jumping on (especially compared to the other two), yet it's been another gap to fill and another contribution in a new way.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">New Conference Contributions<br /></h2><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/speaking-at-conferences.html" target="_blank">Speaking at conferences</a> is not a new thing for me anymore. What can be new, however, are new formats, new teaching styles, new session topics, new conferences, and new communities.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">I decided to go for new topics and finally submitted my first security-focused conference sessions. I was thinking about this for a long time already, basically ever since I started to invest in security knowledge and skills. Yet it's an especially scary area to step into, and that accounts for conference sessions as well.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I managed to write three new proposals, two workshops and a talk. Two sessions are still waiting for the first conference to give feedback on, one is already accepted! I'll have the honor to give my brand-new "<a href="https://agilenewengland.org/software-teaming-online-conference-sessions/" target="_blank">Capture the Flag Together: Security for Everyone</a>" workshop at the free <a href="https://agilenewengland.org/software-teaming-online-conference/" target="_blank">Software Teaming Online Conference 2024</a>. And <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisacrispin/" target="_blank">Lisa Crispin</a> agreed to co-facilitate with me! It's going to be a lot of fun. I just love this conference, and I owe a lot to it. Fun fact, my all-time most booked workshop "Ensemble Exploratory Testing" also has its roots there. Very curious what happens to my new security workshop in the future, and in general to more security-focused sessions. At least the first step is done!<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">New Community Contributions<br /></h2><p style="text-align: left;">Finally, my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2024/01/my-personal-challenge-for-2024-scary-new-grounds.html" target="_blank">courageous community contributions</a>! So much to share from the very start. Right after having posted my personal challenge of the year, yet another initiative evolved. I can tell you I'm so very excited about everything. Depending on the initiative, I cannot always share everything publicly right away, yet there's enough to share already!</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Launch an open space security conference</b> together with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiabothe/" target="_blank">Claudia Bothe</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudius-link/" target="_blank">Claudius Link</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dvstein/" target="_blank">Dave van Stein</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janina-nemec-39875316a/" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ulrich-viefhaus-559a032b9/" target="_blank">Ulrich Viefhaus</a>. The TL;DR version: it's happening for real! The <a href="https://opensecurityconference.org/" target="_blank">Open Security Conference</a> (#osco) will take place on 4-6 October 2024 in Rückersbach, near Frankfurt in Germany. A lot more folks joined as organizers since I last wrote about this initiative. We have further awesome supporters in the closer circle as well. Our <a href="https://opensecurityconference.org/" target="_blank">website</a> is public (and constant work in progress), first social media presences initiated on <a href="https://infosec.exchange/@OSCo" target="_blank">Mastodon</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/open-security-conference/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>. Have you seen our amazing logo created by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janina-nemec-39875316a/" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a>? The event will be a full open space conference with the addition of two keynotes to kick it off - one amazing and well-known speaker is already confirmed. We're looking for sponsors, if you have a suggestion for us it's appreciated! Well, a lot more is coming and to be revealed as we go further. There's a ton of more work to be done, this initiative is indeed not getting boring at all. Instead, it's very exciting, and I'm really happy to have such a great organizer team to take this journey with! <br /></li><li><b>Create a security card game</b> together with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-schmidt-74b9b727b/" target="_blank">Martin Schmidt</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipp-zug-a892161b/" target="_blank">Philipp Zug</a>. This endeavor took shape as well over the last months. We already had a play session, trying out the game for the very first time. It was such a cool experience to test out the preliminary content and experiment with different game mechanics. And it instantly generated lots of more ideas to improve on. This is a really chill and fun activity and we hope to bring it to open space conferences and the world. Check out our <a href="https://github.com/Security-Card-Game" target="_blank">Security Card Game Github org</a> in case you want to follow along.<br /></li><li><b>Build a full-stack open-source practice platform as an ensemble</b> with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dowenb/" target="_blank">Ben Dowen</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernonrichards/" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a>. Yet another initiative I feel very hyped up about! We are taking the roles of the employees of the fictive company "Make-Believe Labs", taking on "Project Snack Shop" for a customer who wants to digitalize their well-running snack shop business by offering an online shop. For real, I just love this happening. We have an ensemble session each week, and we are all in. From our own vision, to the actual project offer and context, to the first proof of concepts, to team agreements, to design documents, to architectural decision records, exploring walking skeleton options with code, and more. This is just super awesome. We have so many ideas to build on this! We don't have an overarching Github org for this yet to follow along, but stay tuned, a lot more is brewing already.<br /></li><li><b>Offer <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-krishnan-0934007/" target="_blank">Shiva Krishnan</a>'s and my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/leadership.html" target="_blank">leadership</a> workshop series to the community</b>. Ah, a longtime endeavor dear to our hearts. This series proved to be valuable to lots of people in the past, and it definitely helped both us grow immensely. Finally, the time has come to spread the word further and transform our workshops to an open community offer. This year we want to try it out with a small cohort. In the first instance, we won't have public registrations, yet will build on our networks for this first community proof of concept. If this goes well, there are plans for more afterwards! It's now really taking shape, and I'm glad to see this. Although access won't be public in the first instance, I'll see what I can share as we go along.</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;">By the way, as if any one of the above wouldn't be enough (they clearly are), there are still further endeavors on my list that I'd love to start. I know, I know, I can't do everything at once, so I deliberately hold back for the moment, as above initiatives (as you can imagine) already fill my time very easily. They also give lots of energy! Lots of growth, too, and I'm not alone in either of them.</p><p style="text-align: left;">As I'm writing this, I'm looking back to the <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2024/01/my-personal-challenge-for-2024-scary-new-grounds.html" target="_blank">original hypothesis for my personal challenge</a>. While above endeavors are indeed new contributions, quite courageous and also ambitious, I'm also very pleased to see that the hypothesis criteria will be very easy to measure indeed. I won't have any trouble to learn from these initiatives. Seems I'm on the right track, and that's providing me peace of mind already. <br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">I am very much looking forward to see how each of these new contributions evolves over time. Truly exciting!<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-3222047659169899032024-01-02T22:24:00.001+01:002024-01-02T22:24:31.685+01:00My Personal Challenge for 2024 - Scary New Grounds<p>In the last few years, I've taken on several <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/personal-challenges.html" target="_blank">personal challenges</a>. These are things that initially scared me yet clearly helped my personal growth. You could also call each of them my "theme" of the year to focus on deliberately, as my learning partner <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer Mamoojee</a> framed it. For 2024, I am taking on my sixth one! </p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Open Thinking</h2><p>While working on my current challenge of the year, I am already taking note of topics that cross my path that would make yet another great theme for the following year. Here's my rough and raw list of thoughts that came to mind in the sequence I noted them down.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>open source contribution</li><li>security</li><li>accessibility</li><li>app development</li><li>call for a weekly 90min ensemble creating an open source app together</li><li>a project a month</li><li>build an intentionally insecure movie app for practicing</li><li>"everyday security" series</li><li>"accessible security"</li><li>asking for help; see <a href="https://twitter.com/A11y_Ady/status/1511441170555195394" target="_blank">Ady's idea</a></li><li>initiate pairing/ensembling with others</li><li>deep dive focus weeks: learn foundations for a topic and share to deepen my generalist me</li><li>series of how I test things, especially on the backend side</li><li>anything that contributes to my vision of systemic inclusion and growth?</li><li>feeling I'm doing the same over the past years, over and over again, also re-using a lot of what I've built before; yet there's so much more to learn and grow into, like <a href="https://maaretp.com/" target="_blank">Maaret</a> continually does, expanding</li><li>do something I haven't done before, truly grow again; I've used lots of approaches in the last years that had worked before, just built on them and refined them; yet didn't really reinvent myself anymore</li><li>really do need my own topics again, not being driven from conference to conference alone, neglecting my goals and blog</li><li>“Courageous Community Contributions” - finding new ways to contribute to the community (like I found new ways to contribute to a team and company over the years)</li><ul><li>These are still scary!</li><ul><li><i>List of a bunch of points - not revealing them here yet, you'll need to read on ;)</i></li><li>… leaving space for serendipity</li></ul><li>What else I might do, yet not as scary anymore:</li><ul><li>Paired blog posts</li><li>Paired conference sessions</li></ul><li>Other things I’m already doing, that are not scary anymore:</li><ul><li>Blogging</li><li>Public speaking</li><li>Security testing sessions with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/codecop/" target="_blank">Peter Kofler</a></li><li>Code reading club</li><li>Learning partnership with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer Mamoojee</a></li><li>Daily habits and practice</li></ul></ul></ul><p></p><p>As usual, the last idea grew and took shape in my head, and I kept adding to it. That's usually the candidate for the very next year, so here it is!</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">My Challenge for 2024</h2><p>Here's the challenge of my choice for this year: "<b>Contributing in new ways</b>." Let's dive into this.</p><p><b>The challenge:</b> I owe a lot to the various communities out there. I'm doing a lot to give back and especially pay forward through sharing on social media, blogging, and conference speaking. There are a lot more ways to contribute, though! I'd love to explore new options and pathways. This runs parallel to what I do at work: constantly re-inventing myself, my role, and how I contribute to teams and organizations. Going out of my comfort zone is how I've grown myself as a generalist. Therefore, I think I can contribute also in different ways outside of work. So here's my challenge to find new ways to contribute to communities and dare to try them - they only can't be the old things I'm already doing (while no one stops me from continuing what I want to continue).</p><p><b>The hypothesis:</b> I believe that contributing to communities in new, courageous ways will add value to the communities I'm part of and grow my own knowledge and skills. I've proven the hypothesis when...</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I have contributed in three new ways,</li><li>other people engaged with these contributions, and</li><li>I have learned three new things from each.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>The experiment:</b> In order to prove or disprove the hypothesis, let's get more concrete.</p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Contributions need to be courageous, something I haven't done yet that I find scary enough while being ready to give it a try.</li><li>Communities to contribute to are not limited, whether I'm already part of it or it's a new one I'm discovering on the way. Topics are not constrained either, as this is all about re-inventing myself by daring to contribute in new ways.</li><li>My initial options are not carved in stone. Instead, they are even prone to change, and that's welcome. I deliberately leave space for serendipitous new collaboration options.</li><li>There's no constraint on how much time these contributions require, whether they only take one hour or continue over many months.</li><li>If a contribution turns out to be not scary at all, then it's still a valid contribution to the community I can decide to pursue.</li><li>I choose to share anything about these contributions in any form I find appropriate. I am not limiting myself to blog posts for this challenge, nor do I require myself to write any.</li></ul><div><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Timeline criteria:</b> It always proved valuable for me to think about when to start, when to pause, and when to stop.</p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Start: The fact that I've taken initial steps for a few courageous endeavors already in 2023 doesn't hinder me from including them in this challenge. The main focus will still start from now on.</li><li>Pause: Whenever I neglect the self-care I committed to, I stop to re-assess the situation and make a judgment call for how long to pause the challenge and get back on track to maintain the required energy. Pressing on without having the energy for it is a no-go.</li><li>Stop: It's time to stop my challenge and evaluate my experiment overall when I've either proven the hypothesis or it's the end of October 2024.</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><b>The hashtag:</b> Initially, I opted for the following name and related hashtag to refer to this challenge: #CourageousCommunityContributions. Yes, I do like alliterations. This one's quite a mouthful, though, and I realized I'm not thinking about this challenge in this way. So I decided to take the words I use when I think about it, and that's #ContributingInNewWays. So be it.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Reviewing all this, I acknowledge the substantial risk that I open up too many topics and, hence, once again feel overwhelmed like in 2023. To mitigate this, I'm trying to build in as much freedom as possible to reduce unhelpful pressure. I don't want to lock myself in and instead still be able to respond to life. The constraints should be liberating. After all, I'll have to try it out and see how it goes.</p><p>Also, framing my challenges as measurable experiments allows me to document a starting point and afterward compare where I ended up with that initial state. So, hypothesis measurements are a tool to help me look back and spot differences. The most important metric will always be how much value I got from these personal challenges for my own growth. So far, it's always been worth it to dare take this journey.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p></div></div></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">It's on!</h2><p>You might wonder, what kinds of contributions do I already have in mind? Here's a non-comprehensive list of currently prominent topics. As stated above, these options are prone to change. I'm sharing them here to make all this more tangible, help me reflect once I finish this challenge, and see if any of you would like to join me in any of these endeavors.</p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Offer <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-krishnan-0934007/" target="_blank">Shiva Krishnan</a>'s and my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/leadership.html" target="_blank">leadership</a> workshop series publicly</li><li>Launch an open space security conference together with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudius-link/" target="_blank">Claudius Link</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janina-nemec-39875316a/" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a></li><li>Create a security card game together with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-schmidt-74b9b727b/" target="_blank">Martin Schmidt</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipp-zug-a892161b/" target="_blank">Philipp Zug</a></li><li>Start or join a Capture the Flag (CTF) team</li><li>Contribute to open source (preferred as an ensemble)</li></ul></div><div>My journey already started with a few tiny steps on some of the listed topics last year. With old tasks closed and the new year starting, I now have a lot more focus to spend. I'm grateful for my wonderful conspirators, looking forward to our collaboration over the year, and I can't wait for what I'll learn on this challenge!</div>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-7187149992455379682023-12-20T22:00:00.002+01:002023-12-21T20:01:26.821+01:002023 - Another Year in the Books<p>
All in all, this was quite a tough year. Stabilizing my work situation, picking up more conference speaking again after changing jobs and hence more traveling, restarting my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/personal-challenges.html" target="_blank">personal challenges</a>, facing lots of family issues, more sickness, the list goes on. A lot more challenges overall, both subtle and obvious, which made it a demanding and exhausting year. I observed myself mostly just pushing things to later, trying to hold on a bit
longer, telling myself to just get that one thing over the finishing line, then it'll be calmer again. Well, the end of the
year is here, and here I am, having finally realized it was overall still too much.
There was one day end of November where I felt that moment of "finally, I recharged my
energy, all is good now!" - and very shortly after I was in the hamster wheel again, feeling tired. Just last week, a colleague told me that we always need twice as much
rest as we thought we would. Oh, the wisdom in these words.</p>
<p>I made it my own tradition to write a year in
review blog post to reminisce about the last twelve months, and I don't want to spend too much on all the challenging parts. Instead, I want to look
back and see all the good things that happened that I need to remember,
especially at times when things are not shiny. Therefore, here are the highlights of
2023 for me to remind myself of in later years.</p>
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
My team at work is in a good place. There's always room for improvement, yet
the culture we fostered and continue to evolve makes me proud. We managed to
steer clear of lots of trouble we still faced beginning of the year. We introduced and implemented tech initiatives that had a heavily positive impact on how
we move our legacy system forward - kudos to our manager for having our back! We're working in a
much more sustainable pace nowadays with more autonomy. All that with seriously awesome people! I'm
curious what we can achieve together next year.
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</li>
<li>
I found a new place in my team. Once again, I could reinvent myself and my role. It's a generalist, shapeshifting, druid-roleplaying, gap-filling role anyways, and I love it! What made a difference this year: This is the first team that managed to really
own testing and quality together over a long period, always striving to get
better, together. This freed me up to contribute in lots of new ways. It allowed me to hone and practice different skills and contribute
hands-on on all kinds of topics. Hence, the last half year I've been taking tasks and working on changes like everyone else, and learning and growing on
each and every one of them. I gained lots of insights from this perspective and some of the challenges that come with a developer's job! Now, I might still jump in on certain high-risk
topics where I see the need, yet usually I know my team got this. And we're
anyways not leaving anyone alone. Personally, I just love this. Still doing what's currently most valuable for the team (and company), while continuing to grow myself just as well.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111536071940045860/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
A difficult work relationship that started with broken communication
turned into a trusting and supportive one. This was a hard one for me this year, yet I'm really glad
we both didn't give up and worked our ways towards each other and with each
other. I'm very grateful for that, and it's been a very insightful lesson in
life in general.
</li>
<li>
It's been an honor and pleasure to work with my fellow quality engineers
this year, especially those in teams closer to mine. Lots of pairing and
ensembling across teams, lots of learning together - I wouldn't miss it.
Thanks a bunch to all of you.
</li>
<li>
My fellow teammate and I kicked off an accessibility guild this year. People feared it might become another fluke, yet we have an awesome core group really engaged and going strong, keen on spreading awareness and actually increasing accessibility of our products as well as our workplace as such. More people raised their interest to join us next year, and I can't wait to see where can take
this together!
</li>
<li>This year was my first time as an official security champion for my team. Creating and
driving our mobile AppSec strategy was a great experience. Collaboration with our
security folks got a lot closer. I experienced my very first security audit! Overall, I learned a whole bunch about what works
and what doesn't to advocate for security topics and to make things happen.
What tools are there to use, what are actual domain-specific risks and
priorities, and what else is going on in the world out there. Huge shout-out
to our awesome InfoSec folks for being so open and collaborative, it's been
a real pleasure.
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</li>
<li>After taking a two years' break, I finally dared to
restart my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/personal-challenges.html" target="_blank">personal challenges</a>. Which means I've done 5 overall by now! This year, I aimed for <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/askappsec.html" target="_blank">connecting with folks of the security community</a>. In the end, it took longer than I intended
to, and it was scarier than expected, yet I made it! My network grew, my knowledge as well. These challenges once again helped my own growth for real.</li>
<li>
My very first security conference is in the books. Something I wanted to do
for quite some time now, and this year it happened with <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/10/askappsec-bsides-munich-2023.html" target="_blank">BSides Munich</a>! Just loved the experience.</li>
<li>I created a new <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/recommended.html" target="_blank">recommended resources</a> page on <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/security.html" target="_blank">all things security</a>. I have 8 overall by now on various topics.</li>
<li>
I spoke at 7 conferences and gave 10 sessions (3 of them brand-new ones), along 4 other
speaking engagements like webinars and podcasts. This makes it overall 91
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/speaking-engagements.html" target="_blank">speaking engagements</a> since I've started speaking in September 2017! What a
number. At conferences alone, I gave now overall 40 sessions at 24
conferences in 10 countries. This year, I also had <a href="https://leaddev.com/community/lisi-hocke" target="_blank">my first appearances for LeadDev</a>, which is also something I strived for. I still can't quite believe the amount of speaking things I've done so far; I never would have thought I would when starting out. But I received so much from the community, so I tried to give back and pay forward where I can. I've
invested a lot in this, and I got a lot out of it as well.
</li>
<li>During on-site conferences, I created sketchnotes again. This year, I received a <a href="https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/111251114810605879" target="_blank">shout-out for the alt text I'm adding</a> to them nowadays - which really was a highlight for me. I'm still learning how to do them even better, yet what I learned from <a href="https://thecakelin.com/" target="_blank">Cakelin Fable</a> was seen and acknowledged and I'm just happy I found a way that's feasible for me while making a whole difference for people.
<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/111251114810605879/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
I wrote 15 blog posts in 2023, including this one. Part of it was thanks to
my personal challenge that often makes me write more, and I'm thankful for
that. It's been while since I learned about myself that I'm thinking in writing - I need to write things down and see them in front of me to help clear my thoughts and come up with new ideas, especially as I can always come back to them. So, these blog posts are mainly for
myself to process and digest, remind my future self, and also gain new insights. If anyone else gets something out of it, it's a real nice bonus.
</li>
<li>Last year a group of amazing folks kicked off a <a href="https://maritvandijk.com/code-reading-club/" target="_blank">code reading club</a>. This year, we had a bunch of new people joining and a lot more sessions. While I didn't make all of them, it's
just been awesome to practice our skills together. Highly recommended!
</li>
<li>Ever since my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/testing-tour.html" target="_blank">Testing Tour</a> in 2018, I had monthly pair testing sessions with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/codecop/" target="_blank">Peter Kofler</a> on security, and they are still going
strong. We finished our deep dive on the <a href="https://owasp.org/www-project-top-ten/" target="_blank">OWASP Top 10</a> and now started with
the <a href="https://mas.owasp.org/" target="_blank">mobile application security guides</a> to explore and discover more. Invaluable.</li>
<li>
I've deepened long-lasting friendships, I've found and evolved new ones, and also met family members again I haven't seen for a very long time. I might not
mention these things enough, yet I am really grateful for the foundation I
have in some very special folks.
</li>
<li>
I finally picked up playing computer games more again. Still not as much as
you would think, as that hamster wheel always tries to push me to run one more round (until I'm too tired to play). And
I can run in that wheel for a long time - yet I would do it a lot better
when resting more, play more games, do more other things I enjoy in life. I'll
do my best to keep reminding myself of it.
</li>
<li>
I continued to revive other passions I have that bring me joy, like drawing,
and especially my passion for volleyball. I've learned so much from this
beautiful team sport for life, for work, for me personally. And I still
can't get enough of it.
</li>
</ul>
<div>
To all those people who accompanied my journey in 2023, I'm truly grateful for
everything. For all ups and downs, for support and challenge, for you being there
with me, for us learning together. Thank you.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
All is settled for 2024 now. I have a bunch of conference speaking engagements
lined up (stay tuned). I have my new personal challenge ready. I'm even working on a few things with amazing people already, while trying to keep it
slow enough to get the rest I need. And oh my, do I need some rest. As my
colleague would say: twice as much as I think, so remember to double your time to rest.</div>
<p></p>
Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-78999546476773743052023-12-02T23:41:00.003+01:002023-12-02T23:41:57.976+01:00AskAppSec - Finding Closure<p>
My personal challenge of the year,
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/askappsec.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec</a>, came to an end and I finally found closure. Here I'm looking back to see
what happened and what I can take with me for my next
endeavors.</p><p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">What I aimed for</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
The personal challenge I set out to in 2023 was to connect with security folks
and related communities to grow my application security knowledge and skills.
I've
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/12/new-year-new-pact-time-for-another-personal-challenge.html" target="_blank">detailed things out in another blog post</a>, so let me just re-share my original hypothesis here.
</p><div><blockquote><div><i>I believe that joining and actively participating in at least one security
community for a period of six months will increase my understanding of
practical application security in everyday work situations. I've proven
the hypothesis when I have...
</i></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><i>solved five mobile application security challenges,</i></li>
<li><i>explained how I solved them, and</i></li>
<li><i>
asked community members for their review and feedback to learn from.</i></li></ul></blockquote><p> </p></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">What happened</h2><p style="text-align: left;">Due to a lot of other things happening in life privately and at work, plus me taking up my conference speaking endeavors again more seriously since the pandemic broke out, I had <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/06/askappsec-on-late-beginnings-distracting-struggles-and-finding-community.html" target="_blank">a really late start with my personal challenge</a> only in May this year.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I looked around for security communities to join and asked a lot of folks for recommendations. At first, I wanted to only join a choice selection to fully focus my engagement on those. Relatively soon though, I opted for a different path and joined as many communities as I found in order to figure out those where I found value for myself, that were open for newcomers, and that felt welcoming for me to participate.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Feeling overwhelmed by options, I started doing more of what I found valuable right now in the moment, and that <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/07/askappsec-gaining-momentum.html" target="_blank">gained me some dearly needed momentum</a>. I also managed to secure a ticket to my first security conference, <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/10/askappsec-bsides-munich-2023.html" target="_blank">BSides Munich 2023</a>, which in itself added to said momentum.</p><p style="text-align: left;">In my previous challenges, I used to take one action, work on one topic, instantly blog about it and then take the next step. This time around, I realized I did lots of things at the same time, overlapping with each other, and then wrote my blog posts rather at the end in a row. Here are the posts that matched the five main topics I chose to work on.</p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/09/askappsec-input-validation.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec - Input Validation</a></li><li><a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/10/askappsec-painless-usable-security.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec - Painless Usable Security</a></li><li><a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/10/askappsec-security-champions.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec - Security Champions</a></li><li><a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/11/askappsec-dependency-updates.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec - Dependency Updates</a></li><li><a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/11/askappsec-capturing-flags.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec - Capturing Flags</a></li></ul></div><p style="text-align: left;">Besides sharing these blog posts on my usual social media platforms, I also asked explicitly for input in the communities I've joined. Sometimes just in one of them, sometimes in multiple, depending on where it felt safe enough and if I've practiced asking strangers enough already to dare it. Sometimes I received feedback from folks on these posts, sometimes even feedback that added to what I already wrote so I edited my blog posts to reflect it there as well.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Through all this, I did make new connections to security folks. These new bridges between specialty roles and also fostering previously existing relationships really helped my own growth and offered opportunities for me to contribute back to community.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I've built up a new <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/security.html" target="_blank">recommended resources page on all things security</a>. It's still growing, yet hopefully already useful for others as well.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Finally, I'm ending my challenge later than planned and granted myself the freedom to do so - even though this broke my original constraint of ending it by end of October.</p><p style="text-align: left;">So, did all this increase my understanding of practical application security in everyday work situations as I believed in the start? Based on the conversations I ended up having at work and getting closer to our InfoSec team as well, I believe it did indeed.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Where I struggled</h2><div>To be frank, I really struggled with this challenge. On the one hand, I'm supposed to struggle with my personal challenges, otherwise they wouldn't get me enough out of my comfort zone. On the other hand, this one felt particularly difficult to me.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>My late start really weighed on me, as usually I make use of the fresh energy of a new year to get things moving and then build on the momentum.</li><li>I realized once more that it's only a subset of folks being engaged in communities. This is the same for all kinds of professions, something I've seen in testing and quality, development, architecture and so on just as well. It's a bubble in a bubble. This made getting recommendations harder than I thought it would be.</li><li>Originally, I aimed to focus on mobile specific security. Sometimes this was the cases, yet mostly my topics were not super specific to mobile and instead applicable to other areas as well.</li><li>Asking communities felt super daring. I am proud I managed to do so. While knowing I might not receive a lot of responses, of course I hoped for feedback. Well, I mostly didn't receive much input at all, which can be quite discouraging. Mostly it was either feedback through social media from communities I'm already in - after all, this seems like a natural thing. They know me, we're already well connected, and I still value the provided feedback a lot - I'm grateful. In other cases, it was feedback from new communities that merely stayed on the surface and unfortunately didn't add to what I already wrote or gave me new pointers. Sometimes, though, there was just brilliant feedback that really helped me and triggered new thoughts, so I'm trying to cling to that.</li><li>I took on too many commitments next to my personal challenge and really struggled with my capacity. I neglected personal constraints I usually have on my personal challenges to keep some part reserved for self-care, and it drained my energy.</li></ul><div><br /></div></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">What I learned</h2><p style="text-align: left;">This challenge taught me quite a few lessons. That fact in itself already really made it worth it. I'm definitely richer in experiences and knowledge than I was before. Here's what I'll take with me on top of the gained knowledge, skills, and connections.</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Sometimes life takes over and has unplanned demands, and that's okay. That could either lead to <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/securitystories.html" target="_blank">pivoting like I did with my challenge in 2020</a>, or still pursuing it while being more flexible about like I did this year, and that's okay as well. I do need to take my own advice of good
enough being actually good enough more often.</li><li>It doesn't matter that I didn't do everything as I envisioned, as
long as I learned valuable things - and I did. It's not about reaching
everything; it's about taking actual steps instead of just wishing I would be the person who had taken those steps.</li><li>As outcome of this challenge, I do have more connections to security folks now. Not a whole lot of them, yet valuable, deeper ones. Once again this shows me that quantity is not everything.</li><li>Connections made face to face, be it remotely in a video call or in person, are way easier for me to make and they tend to hold longer. Therefore, I'm looking for joining more
meetups and conferences that offer the opportunity to speak with one another.</li><li>I really should not start too many new unrelated things at the same time overlapping the personal challenge I set out to take on. This year, I overdid it. I had unlearned how
to enjoy myself for myself and overstepped my own boundaries which left me drained. The recent weeks where things finally got closer to the end really showed it to me: my body told me to stop and finally take the rest I need.</li></ul><div><br /></div><p></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion</h2><p style="text-align: left;">While I did really enjoy diving into security further again and this will definitely not be the end of this journey, I really needed closure on this specific challenge. There's always opportunity cost to consider and I need to free myself up for new
things. I already took on topics reaching into the next year, and I am already looking forward to these next endeavors, so I want to make time for them without feeling overwhelmed. Therefore, one personal challenge a year is still a good thing to force myself out of my comfort
zone while also keeping it within limits.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Having focused on my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/askappsec.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec</a> challenge during this year, there are still so many topics on my list of things I could do or write about. The good thing is, just closing this challenge doesn't
mean I cannot pursue them anymore. It just means I'm leaving this open for myself, and I feel that's a good thing. And it also grants space in my life that's not just commitments to others, but commitment to myself.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Now, before revealing what I'm up to in 2024, I'll indeed take some time for myself. But looking back at <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/askappsec.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec</a>, it's overall been a good challenge at a good time for me. So, let me close this post with a huge round of applause and gratitude for all those folks who talked security with me this year and hence helped me on this part of my journey - my sincere thanks to you!</p>
Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-38946300476678530952023-11-27T22:37:00.000+01:002023-11-27T22:37:02.302+01:00AskAppSec - Capturing Flags<p>Deliberate practice proved being invaluable in my own career. The last months showed me once again that this applies to the field of security just as well.
</p>
<p>
As we can't practice security related skills on just any system without
causing harm, we need dedicated spaces to practice safely. Fortunately, there
are lots of options readily available out there, way too many to list them all. Hence, here are just a few sites that
provide not only great starting points yet also the opportunity to go as deep
as you can.
</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<a href="https://owasp.org/www-project-juice-shop/" target="_blank">OWASP Juice Shop</a>: This is an intentionally vulnerable web app, mimicking a quite common
e-commerce scenario. Based on this, you get a set of challenges presented that allow you to
try out techniques to find and exploit the present vulnerabilities. It's
been
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2020/05/securitystories-using-owasp-juice-shop-for-teaching.html" target="_blank">my own entry point into practice apps for security</a>
and the gamification behind this app in particular really drew me in further.
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://owasp.org/www-project-webgoat/" target="_blank">OWASP WebGoat</a>: Another commonly cited
<a href="https://owasp.org/" target="_blank">OWASP</a> project that offers
you a place to practice. In this case, you go through dedicated lessons to
learn about vulnerabilities, to see how they work and how they can be
mitigated.
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.hackthebox.com/" target="_blank">Hack The Box</a>: This
service offers you a huge amount of prepared virtual machines aka "boxes" to
practice on safely. I really like their starting point machines that guide
you towards the secret aka flag you're trying to find and introduce you to commonly
used tools to identify and exploit vulnerabilities.
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://tryhackme.com/" target="_blank">TryHackMe</a>: Another
service offering lots and lots of machines to practice on. You have plenty
of themed learning paths to learn on with a lot of detailed information to guide you
on the way. Both <a href="https://www.hackthebox.com/" target="_blank">Hack The Box</a> and <a href="https://tryhackme.com/" target="_blank">TryHackMe</a> have big communities active on Discord offering a great support network.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://portswigger.net/web-security" target="_blank">PortSwigger's Web Security Academy</a>: The developers of <a href="https://portswigger.net/burp" target="_blank">BurpSuite</a> provide a great resource with lots of challenges to solve in
order to learn more about web security in general.
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://pentesterlab.com/" target="_blank">PentesterLab</a>: The courses offered on this platform include lots of explanation and guide you step by step to learn skills needed for penetration testing. My thanks go to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/salted-hash/" target="_blank">Yianna Paris</a> for introducing me to this service!</li>
</ul>
<div>Besides these dedicated apps and labs available around the clock, you can also
watch out for hosted public <a href="https://jaimelightfoot.com/blog/so-you-want-to-ctf-a-beginners-guide/" target="_blank">capture the flag (CTF)</a> events. I've recently
joined one from
<a href="https://www.huntress.com/blog/the-hackers-in-the-arena-the-huntress-ctf-retrospective" target="_blank">Huntress</a> and I see several being announced for the upcoming holiday season, like
<a href="https://tryhackme.com/r/christmas" target="_blank">TryHackMe's Advent of Cyber</a> or the <a href="https://www.sans.org/mlp/holiday-hack-challenge-2023/" target="_blank">SANS Holiday Hack Challenge</a>. Being in security-focused communities and
following more security folks on social media really helps to learn about these CTFs. Alternatively, you can check
dedicated sites like
<a href="https://ctftime.org/event/list/upcoming" target="_blank">CTFtime</a>
to look out for the next ones coming up.
</div>
<p>
When practicing in these kinds of spaces on such kinds of challenges, I've experienced the following benefits.
</p>
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<b>Reduce scariness.</b> Dipping your toes into security can by scary indeed. You
might not know where to even start, so having these kinds of practice spaces can serve as just the starting point you need. More often than not, they include challenges designed for beginners that offer further explanation and guidance to get you
introduced into the space.
</li>
<li>
<b>Grow knowledge.</b> Through these practice apps I usually got introduced
to something I didn't know before, be it a concept, a tool, or anything. For
example, they also provide a great reason to get to know security focused
Unix systems like
<a href="https://www.kali.org/" target="_blank">Kali Linux</a>,
<a href="https://www.parrotsec.org/" target="_blank">Parrot Security</a> or
<a href="https://mobexler.com/" target="_blank">Mobexler</a> and their
respective tool boxes.
</li>
<li>
<b>Hone skills.</b> The more we practice, the better our skills get, and the
more we can make connections between things we know. More pieces to complete
the puzzle, or in our case the next challenge. Creative problem solving is definitely a skill we're practicing here!</li>
<li>
<b>Build confidence.</b> The more touchpoints we get and the more we seize practice opportunities, the more we can grow our own confidence that we can
also figure out the next challenge.
</li>
<li>
<b>Spread awareness.</b> We can use the gained
knowledge and skills to raise awareness about vulnerabilities with others. Even better,
by practicing together we can increase awareness in real time.
These kinds of challenges can help people see what's possible and why we
need to defend our systems, protect value and keep harm away.
</li>
<li>
<b>Find joy.</b> Security can be perceived as such a dour and tedious topic. Finding solutions to security challenges, however, can feel very rewarding in itself. Doing challenges together can further help with connecting security with fun and make it more interesting for people to engage with. It can also help to find community and
like-minded people to learn and grow with.
</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<p>
All of these advantages I've experienced myself as I've been trying out various vulnerable
apps, a bunch of labs offering dedicated challenges, as well as
dipping my toes into my first public CTFs. I've
also seen them over and over again with conference participants, joining me for many
sessions of "capturing flags together" at
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/09/socrates-2023-a-place-where-i-belong.html" target="_blank">SoCraTes</a>, <a href="https://frogsconf.nl/" target="_blank">FroGS Conf</a> and
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/11/agile-testing-days-2023-celebrating-opportunities.html" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a>. It's been just the same when hosting practice sessions with colleagues in the past - something I'd like to pick up again in
coordination with our current InfoSec team.</p>
<p>
So, just practicing within these spaces gives us everything we need, right? Well,
unfortunately that sounds too good to be true. There are also downsides to
these kinds of challenges. Kudos to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dvstein/" target="_blank">Dave van Stein</a> for making me think more about this!</p>
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<b>Artificial challenges.</b> All these spaces are crafted with a
specific goal in mind, usually to educate and provide a safe place to
practice. Therefore, challenges are inherently artificial and can't fully
represent real-life scenarios.
</li>
<li>
<b>Mindsets differ.</b> Attackers tend to think differently. I mean, they
usually don't have the one clear flag to find in a constrained environment
to announce their win. Instead, they might gather all kinds of information over a period of time, and based on that build their strategy on whether to exploit identified
paths into a system, what to gain from it, and so on. It highly depends on
their motivation and goals as well.
</li>
<li>
<b>Uncertainty instead of solutions.</b> For labs and CTFs you'll know when you
made the right move, you get a reward. In real life, there's no cheat sheet,
there's no walkthrough. Just potential and ambiguity and never being
completely sure that whatever you've found (if you've found any at all) is all there is to find.
</li>
<li>
<b>Overly focused on penetration testing.</b> All the sites listed above
are mainly offered to practice penetration testing. It's the one hot topic that
probably attracts most people, but how often do you actually need those
skills? How many
<a href="https://shehackspurple.ca/2022/01/01/jobs-in-information-security-infosec/" target="_blank">jobs are in this area compared to all the others</a>? There are so many more skills needed in the field of security. So where
are the challenges on
<a href="https://www.securecodewarrior.com/products/challenges" target="_blank">secure coding</a>, or <a href="https://github.com/OWASP/wrongsecrets" target="_blank">secret storing</a>, or vulnerability evaluation, or threat identification, or incident response, and so on? Well, more practice apps are being built all the time, so some
of these do exist already while not always being in the spotlight. And of course, there's official formal training to have as well (though it can come at high costs).</li>
</ul>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-forms" src="https://infosec.exchange/@Dave_von_S/111037431990946281/embed" width="400"></iframe>
<div>
Weighing benefits and downsides against each other, I consider deliberate practice opportunities like the ones listed above still invaluable. We do have
to be cautious, though, to put them into perspective and be clear about their goals and limitations.</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
That leaves me with yet another question: can we practice closer to reality?
Here are a few approaches I think we could experiment with. I'd be happy to hear about
further options to add to the list.
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<b>Replay past real incidents.</b> I'm thinking of actual security
issues that your own company faced. We could replay these very real
scenarios both from an attacker and a defender point of view and hence learn what we can do better - very concretely for our specific
situation.
</li>
<li>
<b>Run open thinking exercises.</b> Deliberately practice approaches
like
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2020/04/securitystories-threat-modeling.html" target="_blank">threat modelling</a>,
<a href="https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/risk-management/using-attack-trees-to-understand-cyber-security-risk" target="_blank">attack trees</a>
and similar to improve our thinking, within our actual work context to make it as applicable as possible.
</li>
<li>
<b>Host custom-tailored CTFs.</b> Have one person hide a custom flag
on your own system for people to find. It might still be an artificial
scenario, yet placed in your very real context. This requires quite
some preparation of course, like a dedicated environment to practice on
and, as usual, explicit consent from all involved parties. The gained insights might still be worth the effort.
</li>
</ul>
<div>
Personally, I'm sure I'll continue making good use of the various practice
opportunities there are. I'm also considering joining or starting a CTF team
to make practice even more deliberate. If anyone's interested or has
recommendations for good places to find a welcoming, inclusive and diverse
team please let me know.
</div>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>Now let's bring this question back to the community: what do you do to practice
your security skills?</div>
Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-56644093331033697782023-11-20T21:49:00.001+01:002023-11-20T23:25:40.954+01:00Agile Testing Days 2023 - Celebrating Opportunities<p>
It's been the 15th edition of <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a> and the conference came a
long way. This was my very first conference in 2015 and I was fortunate to be
able to come back every year since then - never regretted it! On the one hand, there's the
huge and diverse program to choose from, and on the other hand, there's this wonderful and
ever-growing community to come back to. Loved meeting so many awesome folks
again, while I missed opportunity to check in with others - it's a lot going
on, I hope next year we can make more space for it. At the same time, I got to
know lots of people I haven't met yet! This is something I'm looking out for
deliberately, and while I didn't have much capacity this year to go mingle
proactively, I'm glad it still happened.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Sunday</h2><p style="text-align: left;">After attending so many editions of the <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a>, returning to the venue felt like coming home in all the best ways. There are usually some familiar faces to instantly meet in the lobby on arrival, and there are lots of people to re-connect with during the evening before the event starts.</p><p style="text-align: left;">A few of the people I could already catch up with were <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezagroba/" target="_blank">Elizabeth Zagroba</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joepschuurkes/" target="_blank">Joep Schuurkes</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a>, having a lovely dinner together and exchanging what happened since we last met. I really enjoy these kinds of shared moments at conferences. Besides the official program, these opportunities are usually the most insightful for me.</p><p style="text-align: left;">The evening faded out at the hotel bar, meeting more awesome people again like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/uditas/" target="_blank">Udita Sharma</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-gaba-70952476/" target="_blank">Shivani Gaba</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dragan-spiridonov/" target="_blank">Dragan Spiridonov</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/friendlytester/" target="_blank">Richard Bradshaw</a>, and so many more. It was also the first opportunity to finally meet people I only knew from social media like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuya-kazama-ab121748/" target="_blank">Yuya Kazama</a>, as well as make new connections like with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadja-schulz-ba93b71b0/" target="_blank">Nadja Schulz</a>.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Monday</h2><p style="text-align: left;">The first day of the event is dedicated to full-day tutorials, the official conference opening and dinner in the evening. Personally, I really like kicking off the conference with attending a tutorial. On the one hand, I enjoy the focus time on one topic before the huge, busy program starts, and on the other hand, I really like starting with a smaller group of people and get to know them better before a whole lot more join during the regular conference days. This time, I had the pleasure of having <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/techsannetized/" target="_blank">Sanne Visser</a> right next to me in the tutorial - loved it. Over lunch, I could also re-connect with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jumpei-ito-40a893175/" target="_blank">Jumpei Ito</a> and get to know <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/masanori-kawarada-78607314a/" target="_blank">Masanori Kawarada</a>. The day was already off to a good start for the conference!</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Tutorial <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/breaking-into-ai-and-machine-learning/" target="_blank">Breaking into AI and Machine Learning</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tariqking/" target="_blank">Tariq King</a>. I hesitated for quite some time to dive further into machine learning. Yes, I've attended a few talks and workshops in the past years on the topic, yet haven't tried much of the generative tools or LLMs yet. Therefore, this tutorial was clearly one to learn from. Also, I've had a few chances to join Tariq's tutorial at other conferences yet always went for a different topic. So, it was about time to finally get out of my comfort zone and seize this opportunity. Didn't regret it one bit! It was a great dive into different areas of AI and machine learning. I especially appreciated the hands-on experience we could gain, and then learning about theory as we went - instead of the other way around. It made this topic really accessible, and you could see how you could apply this in other areas as well. Definitely recommended.</li>
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/my-tale-of-playing-the-testing-game/" target="_blank">My tale of playing the Testing Game</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/maaike-brinkhof-1942b725/" target="_blank">Maaike Brinkhof</a>. This keynote was an awesome opening for the conference - a pity not everybody was there yet, this would have deserved the big audience. I love it when people share their story, what decisions they made, what they learned, where they struggled. Really related to the options provided in the end as well - we should be intentional about our moves; we don't have to just stay where we are and be miserable.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434250451419226/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/mini-missions-making-the-everyday-exciting/" target="_blank">Mini-missions: making the everyday exciting</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/veerleverhagen/" target="_blank">Veerle Verhagen</a>. Somehow I missed that there was yet another talk scheduled before the evening started, so this was a nice surprise! Unfortunately, I didn't take a sketchnote of this one, yet I really liked the idea Veerle presented. Going on mini missions (or side quests) to get your mind set on something else when everything is otherwise too much, you're getting anxious, you're lacking drive, or anything else. No actual tasks you have to accomplish, yet fun little optional things that can help you enjoy life more. It was amazing to see how this idea really stuck with people throughout the conference, looking for mini missions throughout and having fun with them - what an impact!</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<p>The evening started with speakers dinner as well as greet and meet dinners for participants to break the ice and get to know a few people already. This is a really good opportunity for everyone already around. The event can be overwhelming as it is, and it's good to have some familiar faces in the crowd you can more easily catch up with. That's one of the huge advantages of being a speaker returning to an event you've already spoken at, as you usually have made lots of connections already through speaking.</p><p>When it comes to speakers dinner, <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a> is known for treating their speakers very well! That includes food and drinks, the scenery, basically the whole atmosphere. It's been yet another amazing evening together with lots and lots of awesome conversations. Catching up with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/micha-kutz/" target="_blank">Micha Kutz</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernonrichards/" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a>. An amazing opportunity to reconnect with my dear friend <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tdpauw/" target="_blank">Thierry de Pauw</a>! Together, we had really insightful conversations with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-nicolai-b508208/" target="_blank">Johannes Nicolai</a> about branching strategies and pull requests with all the trouble and benefits that can come from it - loved it.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Tuesday</h2><p style="text-align: left;">The first regular conference day started with all its usual busyness, lots of people, lots of learning. Here are the sessions I joined on that day.</p>
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/tuesday-morning-lean-coffee/" target="_blank">Tuesday Morning Lean Coffee</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetgregory/" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisacrispin/" target="_blank">Lisa Crispin</a>. I just love lean coffee sessions for all the serendipitous insights and inspiration! Janet and Lisa are great at setting a welcoming space for them. This time, I learned about <a href="https://maturitymapping.com/" target="_blank">maturity maps</a> - <a href="https://learnwardleymapping.com/" target="_blank">Wardley mapping</a> applied to teams. We also once again talked about adapting our wording for desired impact; for example, does it help more to talk about a "test strategy" or a "delivery strategy" in the given context?</li>
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/10x-software-testing/" target="_blank">10x Software Testing</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristelviidik/" target="_blank">Kristel Kruustuk</a>. Kristel painted a picture how testing evolved over time, and how AI and machine learning helped her company become more effective. She also made clear that big changes don't happen over night, yet usually in taking many small steps.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434250572413866/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/the-alliance-of-a-security-engineer-and-a-tester/" target="_blank">The alliance of a security engineer and a tester</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandrakornecka/" target="_blank">Aleksandra Kornecka</a>. I really liked that this talk spread awareness on collaboration and career options in security! Personally, I've seen testing and quality overlap with security work quite a few times, and vice versa. Joining forces resonated a lot with me, as well as her point that cybersecurity is everyone's job.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434250718750468/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/facilitating-a-quality-process-assessment/" target="_blank">Facilitating a quality process assessment</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetgregory/" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a>. As I've done a few assessments myself in the past for my own as well as other teams, I really related to this talk. Janet presented steps to facilitate an assessment and gave lots of advice what to look out for. For example, watching for gaps between what people say and what they do - so much this!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434250866459523/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/could-agile-testers-help-debug-management/" target="_blank">Could Agile Testers Help Debug Management?</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-buck/" target="_blank">John Buck</a>. John shared how common organizational structures result in autocracies, especially on the top. These usually lack the feedback loops that are crucial to have good product outcomes. He presented a different option in the form of a sociocracy with elected representatives and various forms of consensual collaboration. Including debugging the system and finding better approaches instead.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434250988075080/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Workshop <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/collect-your-explorer-badge/" target="_blank">Collect your explorer badge</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/uditas/" target="_blank">Udita Sharma</a> and me. This was the first time we could give our brand-new workshop together! We presented a new approach to help with exploratory testing: applying <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_concept" target="_blank">high concepts</a> from the domain of fiction to the world of exploration. What for? To come up with exploration ideas ourselves, to explain what we do to others, and to inspire more folks to join us in these efforts. All in very short time, without unfamiliar jargon to make it accessible for everyone. It's been a great experience to prepare and facilitate this workshop together with Udita, and we just loved seeing people engage so much with our content.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111409757127760676/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/missed-opportunities-when-quality-is-put-in-a-box/" target="_blank">Missed Opportunities. When quality is put in a box.</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikachestnut/" target="_blank">Erika Chestnut</a>. I really liked Erika's take on opportunities, especially those that we miss, be it intentionally or unintentionally. For ourselves personally, in our careers, as well as for our product. "Poor quality is a succession of missed opportunities" - I so much relate to this! Erika also encouraged people not to stop with testing, yet look for further opportunities to influence quality.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434251134278797/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<p>That wasn't it yet for the evening! First, there was the snack exchange, initiated by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-k%C3%BCster-1901b4149/" target="_blank">Sophie Küster</a> (who unfortunately didn't make it in the event, and who was missed dearly!), and organized by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobias-geyer-728ba1252/" target="_blank">Tobias Geyer</a>. Lots of folks from the community brought regional snacks they love and it all came together in huge snack piles on the tables. So many wonderful tastes to explore! Just awesome. Some might say it maybe wasn't the very best idea to do this right before the big dinner, but hey, we all still enjoyed both very much - and it's unicorn land after all, so who is anyone to judge?</p><p>Dinner and party for everyone is on the usual program for this evening. A costume party to be precise! I personally really dislike dressing up, yet this is my favorite costume party ever. I've not been judged by not dressing up once, and everyone just enjoys whatever they want to wear and whatever everyone else came up with. This year, the theme was 90s, so it was a real throwback time into me teenage years for me. Loved it. Also, lovely food, a huge 15th anniversary cake, and great conversations. </p><p>Usually, this is also the time organizers reveal who won the <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/miatpp/" target="_blank">Most Influential Agile Testing Professional Person (MIATPP)</a> award. This year was special though. It was officially the last in-person conference for <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetgregory/" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a>. Phew, what a tough, sad moment for all of us to say goodbye to such a huge and dearly loved figure in the community. At the same time, what a happy moment for Janet to move on to new endeavors and opportunities! All the feelings. Janet and everything she's done for this community was celebrated - so very well deserved. I owe a lot to her and can only hope to pay it forward in some ways. I'm very happy I had the opportunity to be there to witness her goodbye, and I'll keep her in my heart and memory.</p><p>The evening was long and awesome. There was finally time to catch up with my dear friend and learning partner <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer Mamoojee</a>. Time to talk with my amazing colleague <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravota/" target="_blank">Rita Avota</a> who volunteered at the event. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janina-nemec-39875316a/" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a> and I could finally play <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_(card_game)" target="_blank">SET</a> together, an opportunity we waited for since <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/09/socrates-2023-a-place-where-i-belong.html" target="_blank">SoCraTes</a>. A chance to re-connect with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianneduijst/" target="_blank">Marianne Duijst</a> and her family! Really loved seeing my friends <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/annecolder/" target="_blank">Anne Colder</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentwijnen/" target="_blank">Vincent Wijnen</a> again. The evening got longer and longer, lots of folks, I just loved it.</p><p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Wednesday</h2><p style="text-align: left;">The longer the previous evening got, the more tired I was when getting up on this day. Well, there's always a trade-off, and I realized the fear of missing out and the enjoyment of the moment didn't let me take care of myself as much as I should have. Not sleeping enough took a toll on me. Still, I tried to make the best out of what the day had to offer.</p>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/reimagining-automation/" target="_blank">Reimagining Automation</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-leland-knight/" target="_blank">Andrew Knight</a>. He presented an interesting narrative of the past and future of testing, showing what could be. I especially liked the emphasis of automation as tool beyond testing, which we already see nowadays. Lots of food for thought how we would like to create our future, and for which cases tools will be able to assist us best.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434251376209381/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Workshop <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-mobile-accessibility/" target="_blank">The Hitchhiker's Guide to mobile accessibility</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nithin-ss/" target="_blank">Nithin SS</a>. This was a really great session that would have deserved more time, as there are so many aspects for mobile accessibility to consider. I gained lots of insights and resources from the session and loved the hands-on exercises. A lot to take with me and digest further.</li>
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/everyone-is-a-leader/" target="_blank">Everyone is a Leader</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/zuzka/" target="_blank">Zuzi Sochova</a>. Lots of gems in this talk! I really liked the message of everybody being a leader and being able to influence - more people need to hear this. Same applies to what true collaboration really means.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434251483910905/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Workshop <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/how-to-untangle-your-spaghetti-test-code/" target="_blank">How to Untangle Your Spaghetti Test Code</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kutz-693457131/" target="_blank">Michael Kutz</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianbaumann/" target="_blank">Christian Baumann</a>. Loved this session! Very relevant and very hands-on. Micha and Chris shared lots of tangible advice how to recognize issues in our code base and what helps to remedy them. My table formed an awesome ensemble to work together on the exercises provided, which allowed us to contribute from our different perspectives and learn from each other. It's been a real pleasure to work again with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mazininaad/" target="_blank">Mazin Inaad</a> this way!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mstdn.social/@mkutz/111415532122891572/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/move-that-wall/" target="_blank">MOVE THAT WALL</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drrochellecarr/" target="_blank">Dr. Rochelle Carr</a>. I've seen her keynote at <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/05/agile-testing-days-usa-2023-a-lot-to-think-about.html" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days USA</a> this year, a talk that really hit home for me. And once again, this was yet another powerful and energetic presentation. I saw and heard from many folks how impactful it was for them, and you could also hear it in the many, very personal questions asked right after the keynote. I especially appreciated the very direct and clear advice provided that makes you think. In the end, if there's a wall in front of you, no matter what or who it is - let's move it!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434251593189806/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/dont-go-breaking-my-code/" target="_blank">Don’t go breaking my code</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-pejgan-nystrom/" target="_blank">Lena Nyström</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-nitsche-457ba3158/" target="_blank">Samuel Nitsche</a>. Now this was something completely different! I knew these two were up for something, and yet they exceeded my expectations. A different kind of keynote to be sure! Who can claim they've seen conference speakers act and sing on stage, in a musical-like way, while also conveying great points probably lots of people can relate to? Very entertaining, something to remember. I especially loved the message that we need each other to deliver something of value, so let's build on that together.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434251841180740/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
</ul><p style="text-align: left;">In the evening, I felt really tired and was ready to take a break from the crowd. That was when I met <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/parveen-khan/" target="_blank">Parveen Khan</a> again, and we decided to go out for dinner that night! Loved that calm time to catch up. Afterwards, I had energy again to mingle and have the evening fade out in good company.</p>
<p></p>
</div>
<p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Thursday</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">While <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a> usually starts slow with the whole week and plenty of time lying ahead, it often quite quickly comes around to the last day of the conference. Here's what I chose to close things off.</p>
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/a-fighting-chance-learning-the-art-of-conflict-resolution/" target="_blank">A Fighting Chance - Learning the Art of Conflict Resolution</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandraschladebeck/" target="_blank">Alex Schladebeck</a>. This keynote was meant to be given by both Alex and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-k%C3%BCster-1901b4149/" target="_blank">Sophie Küster</a> together. Although Sophie unfortunately couldn't make it, Alex did a great job keeping Sophie in this talk and in people's heads nonetheless. The keynote provided lots of valuable and tangible advice on how to deal with conflict situations. I especially loved the concrete statements provided that we could use in our communication with each other, as this is what I often struggle with.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434252084879529/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Workshop <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/ensemble-testing/" target="_blank">Ensemble Testing</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezagroba/" target="_blank">Elizabeth Zagroba</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joepschuurkes/" target="_blank">Joep Schuurkes</a> and me. Time for my second workshop! Again, I was in lovely company. Elizabeth, Joep and I had lots of fun setting the space for effective collaboration and fun learning to happen. We introduced people to working as an <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/collaboration.html#ensemble" target="_blank">ensemble</a> (also known as software teaming, formerly referred to as mob programming). We offered three different topics for people to choose from: exploration, programming, and security. I had really fun with the latter, facilitating yet another "capture the flag together" ensemble session! People really engaged and, judging from the feedback received, seemed to have a good time while gaining lots of insights. Just loved seeing this!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111420150864713036/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/wait-thats-not-tested/" target="_blank">Wait! That’s Not Tested</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-reid-21198a69/" target="_blank">Heather Reid</a>. I really like Heather's stories and all the data she gathers to tell them. This keynote was full of great points as well. I especially loved shifting the narrative towards thinking in bets and hence minimum shippable risk - phew, some real food for thought to take with us!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434252213951071/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/continuous-performance-testing-with-k6/" target="_blank">Continuous performance testing with K6</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/achumakin/" target="_blank">Alexander Chumakin</a>. Alexander presented a distinct set of tools and demonstrated how they can work nicely together. Really concise talk, giving a concrete example of how we can improve performance testing.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434252674631281/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/the-paradoxical-state-of-performance-testing/" target="_blank">The paradoxical state of performance testing</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonja-n-23595638/" target="_blank">Sonja Nesic</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankkootte/" target="_blank">Frank Kootte</a>. Sonja and Frank shared their story of where they came from and what they did to turn the ship around when it comes to performance testing. Lots of tangible advice. Especially applying lessons learned from functional testing to performance was great food for thought! <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434252998607002/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Keynote <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/the-rise-of-generative-ai-judgment-day/" target="_blank">The Rise of Generative AI: Judgment Day</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tariqking/" target="_blank">Tariq King</a>. And here it was, the closing keynote of the conference. Tariq shed a light on generative AI from the angle of the Turing test. He also did a live imitation game with us, presenting us with artwork and music that may or may not be real. That was a quite impressive demonstration that drove the point home how easy we are to trick! While there's no real intelligence yet for machines, we should consider revising the Turing test. In any case, we're overdue in coming up with an ethics framework around these kinds of tools to use them for good rather than bad purposes.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111434253255608085/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">With that, it was a wrap. The 15th edition of <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a> was officially over. Lots of people still stayed around and engaged in the various evening activities. As it became a tradition, I went out for dinner with a lovely group of people.</p><p style="text-align: left;">As always, we still ended up in the hotel lobby. Playing another round of games. Using the opportunity to catch up with people we couldn't talk with yet. I really appreciated the time I had with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gitteklitgaard/" target="_blank">Gitte Klitgaard</a> this evening. Also, last minute opportunities to meet new people like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginia-weidhaas-a980b453/" target="_blank">Virginia Weidhaas</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nvanderhoeven/" target="_blank">Nicole van der Hoeven</a>. So many more good memories to take home with me.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I loved that this year a whole bunch of people from my <a href="https://codereading.club/" target="_blank">code reading club</a> were there and we even managed to make photos with (most of) each other! Huge shoutout to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/annecolder/" target="_blank">Anne Colder</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janina-nemec-39875316a/" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisacrispin/" target="_blank">Lisa Crispin</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-nitsche-457ba3158/" target="_blank">Samuel Nitsche</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernonrichards/" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a> - while missing everyone else being on the club.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://digitalcourage.social/@IsItArtOrTrash/111426260023370920/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Change Is Coming</h2><div>This year was amazing, next year will be different. Well, <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a> is slightly different every year, they do a great job listening to feedback and adapting. Yet for 2024, the organizers already
announced that the concept will change. I'm really curious what they are up
to. They have my full trust. I will be back in any case.</div><p style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111426965332121176/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
<script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://hachyderm.io/@the_qa_guy/111419623672587162/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe></p>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-53647889947973664172023-11-07T22:56:00.000+01:002023-11-07T22:56:50.343+01:00AskAppSec - Dependency Updates<p>When one of my former managers commented on my blog post on <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/10/askappsec-painless-usable-security.html" target="_blank">Painless Usable Security</a>, asking about our approach of keeping dependencies up to date, I realized that there's more to the topic and I should write a separate post about it. So here it is!</p><p>Keeping dependencies up to date has been a big topic in lots of the teams I've been part of. When I created our AppSec strategy for my current team beginning of the year, this topic once again stood out to me as the first one to tackle. This is based on our context. We have a whole bunch of services we own and most of them are around for quite a long time (and still valuable). We inherited a system that had degraded over time, and knowledge had been lost. Over the last two years, we learned to understand this system a lot better, as a whole team. We invested in several endeavors to get it in shape again, to preserve its value, and also ease extendibility.</p><p>Before going into details, let's first take a few steps back.</p><p>Why even have dependencies in the first place? Nowadays, most software is not built in an echo-chamber. It'll be based on lots and lots of other software that lots and lots of other people provided, so that we all can achieve more with less. There are specific contexts where dependencies will indeed be very constrained, usually in situations where stakes are very high. Yet even then you probably don't invent your own programming language, operating system or infrastructure. For the kinds of products that I've worked on so far, the system will have lots of dependencies to third-party frameworks, libraries, and more.</p><p>So, we need dependencies. Yet why should we update them and keep them updated? Can't we just keep everything as it is?</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Even if we don't change anything on our side, the world around us does not stop. Tech evolves every day. If we don't change anything, our system will naturally degrade from both business value and security perspective. More vulnerabilities in the dependency versions used will be found, and the system will be more and more at risk. Until suddenly it's very time-critical to have that risk mitigated. Remember <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log4Shell" target="_blank">Log4Shell</a>, anyone?</li><li>Besides security fixes, you'll also want to use new capabilities that dependencies offer in their newer versions. These can help preserve or even increase the value of your system and keeping it relevant to users, business and other stakeholders.</li></ul><p></p><p>Fine. Yet why do people struggle so much with updates? Just do it, right?</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Dependency updates oftentimes come with the need to adapt your system to the new version. Sometimes that means completely re-architecting your solution; very painful. Sometimes dependencies had removed or replaced features in their newer versions, and you'll need to cater for that. Even if there's no obvious need to adapt the system, updates might break functionality in lots of surprising ways - so you better have suitable measures in place to mitigate that risk and detect regressions early.</li><li>Updates can come in very fast, sometimes multiple times a day. Think about the JavaScript ecosystem for example. It can be overwhelming and feeling like a Sisyphean task: as soon as you got your system in an up-to-date state, there's a new version of at least one dependency released again!</li><li>Dependencies have dependencies themselves. Oh my. Updating one dependency often means it's not compatible anymore with the rest, so you need to update a whole bunch of others as well; especially when updating frameworks. This also means, by the way, that dependencies have to keep on top of their own dependency updates. The struggle is real.</li><li>Dependencies might be discontinued and not get any updates any longer due to a variety of reasons. They might get moved to other places, integrated into other projects, you name it. Sometimes you can migrate, sometimes you have to find similar tools from scratch again to meet your needs. For any newly introduced dependency, it needs evaluation and validation again (better do it regularly for existing ones as well). Licenses are crucial to consider, especially when including open source dependencies. Checking its usage, how many people contribute to the project, how many issues had been already identified or fixed, when the dependency was last updated, how much community support it has, and so on. It's good to have a guideline in your context what's considered suitable to choose and what not, and what's the reasoning behind it.</li><li>You have more dependencies than you might think. The number of libraries directly used by your services alone is probably high. Yet there's also the infrastructure you're running on and its dependencies, like container images with their operating systems and - surprise - their respective dependencies. There are dependencies to data storage solutions and so on. It's a lot to keep up to date.</li><li>Probably the biggest hurdle I've seen is getting buy-in to do this kind of maintenance "keep the light on" work as part of normal everyday business. It's an investment and there's opportunity cost - if you invest in one thing, you can't do another at the same time. This often leads to not investing in maintenance at all. A strategy which comes around to you soon enough, presenting you with even bigger investment needs to get back on track again, while already being hindered to follow other opportunities that you wanted to prioritize for business reasons. It can slow you down to a complete halt. Yet as that's usually only a future problem of a potential risk, it's really tempting for people to ignore it (guilty of that myself). It requires lots of experience, discipline, and good practices to still keep your system tidy and in shape, continuously. And keeping each other accountable, we're fallible human beings.</li><li>Last but not least, context is crucial. In industrial cybersecurity settings, updates might have a hugely different impact, not only financially yet also when it comes to safety. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lcarhart/" target="_blank">Lesley Carhart</a> describes it well in her <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6TLjhO8NYMv1mbhpKoTm51?si=v4hPYpA5SUqs6wWKKWXJxA&nd=1 " target="_blank">CyberWork podcast episode</a>. Context really matters, risks can differ heavily.</li></ul><p></p><p>What about tools to help us keep dependencies in shape?</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>There are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_composition_analysis" target="_blank">Software Composition Analysis (SCA)</a> tools to help you detect outdated dependencies, including their known vulnerabilities. They usually compare your dependencies' versions against a list of available versions and reported issues for each. Integrating tools into your source code hosting platform and delivery pipeline can help as well. You might have heard of <a href="https://owasp.org/www-project-dependency-check/" target="_blank">OWASP Dependency-Check</a>, <a href="https://github.com/dependabot" target="_blank">Dependabot</a>, <a href="https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate" target="_blank">Renovate</a>, <a href="https://snyk.io/product/open-source-security-management/" target="_blank">Snyk Open Source</a>, and the like.</li><li>Package managers often come with integrated checkers. Like <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/dependency-check" target="_blank">NPMs dependency-check</a> which also offers to update potentially straightforward ones automatically for you.</li><li>Modern IDEs support you by indicating outdated or vulnerable dependencies, like <a href="https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/" target="_blank">IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate</a> does. Check out <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/maritvandijk/" target="_blank">Marit van Dijk</a>'s awesome talk <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMASLm7v1xw" target="_blank">Keep your dependencies in check</a> to see it demonstrated along with lots of useful advice.</li><li>There are repositories like <a href="https://mvnrepository.com/repos/central" target="_blank">Maven Central</a> to get dependencies from in all available versions, which often also help if dependencies moved their artifacts, got renamed, deprecated and more.</li><li>Tools like <a href="https://www.opencve.io/" target="_blank">OpenCVE</a> allow you to subscribe to updates for your technology stack to get alerts on potentially relevant security issues.</li><li>Sometimes frameworks offer migration tools to help with bigger updates.</li><li>More and more people talk about <a href="https://scribesecurity.com/sbom/" target="_blank">software bill of materials (SBOM)</a> to keep inventory of all kinds of software including dependencies in use.</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;">Lots of aspects come into play when updating dependencies, and there are probably a lot more factors to consider than listed here. The big question to answer is what's most helpful in your context to actually get the job done, get the dependencies updated and keep them updated.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Let's talk about strategies. How can we keep dependencies updated?</p><p style="text-align: left;">In a previous team, we worked with major updates once per quarter, going through everything. This worked okayish for the given context of an internal product with limited usage. In my current team's context, however, we have a customer-facing product with a hugely different attack surface. So far, the following worked for us to update our services' dependencies.</p><div><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Establish, encourage and ensure 20% time for every team member and use it to drive tech initiatives. Like getting dependencies of our services in shape. Having dedicated time to improve certain areas like this was a massive cultural foundation for lots of good stuff happening.</li><li>Use tooling to support easier updates where feasible. Automated scanners to indicate outdated dependencies, utility tools to adapt required related documentation for compliance reasons, and automated checks to discover potential regressions. Tools like these were great in combination with our system knowledge, so we could quickly unveil more surprises where automation reached its limits.</li><li>Do the easiest, most straightforward, quick win updates first and get them out of the way. It'll reduce cognitive load and clear up headspace for the bigger challenges, like the ones requiring updates of several dependencies or even frameworks. The advice to "solve the smallest problems first" helped me massively with legacy systems like ours; as far as I remember the credit goes to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nat-bennett-36a2b41b/" target="_blank">Nat Bennett</a>, yet I can't find the source anymore (if anyone does, let me know). Having said that, it doesn't mean you shouldn't prioritize updating your most critically vulnerable dependencies first. </li><li>Small changes done frequently compound. The system will get better step by step, you'll get better at updating the system step by step. Always a bit better. It might not look like much today, yet a month from here it's already painting a different picture. We'll get there.</li><li>Build on existing energies and practices. This is <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/lisihocke/team-transformation-tactics-for-holistic-testing-and-quality-agiletd-open-air-2023#91" target="_blank">one of my tools that helped me with lots of culture change initiatives</a>. We also used this to keep dependencies in shape. We have regular tasks needed for each release, and updating dependencies simply became one of them.</li></ol><p></p><p>All this, however, likely only worked due to the team culture we fostered where people are sharing everything; knowledge, skills, load, a common goal, and more. This made it clear from the start that keeping dependencies up to date is a team task as well and we're all responsible for it, together. I hope to share more once we've lived this approach for a longer time. I'm myself curious if we can manage to keep our system in shape this way or what other approaches will turn out to be more successful in the end.</p><p>A word of caution when it comes to tooling. Scanners are only as good as the team can respond and act on their results. The cry for more tools to make a problem go away, or the desire to just finding the one right tool to save us all is not going to fix the underlying issue. Just throwing more tools on a problem won't move anything towards better - most likely, the opposite will occur. All of this becomes noise. It's overwhelming. There's so much other work to do as well. People start shutting themselves off and ignoring alerts just in order to be able to deliver anything (most likely the thing that others put them under pressure for). Yes, alert fatigue is very real. We see the same overwhelm with observability tools, monitoring alerts, test findings, static analysis feedback, and more. Having yet another class of alerts you don't get time for to understand and fix just does not help get into a better place. Not to forget false positives! Alerts that are simply not alerting you on anything real or actionable or relevant for your context are like poison.</p><p>At <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/10/askappsec-bsides-munich-2023.html" target="_blank">BSides Munich 2023</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasminmair/" target="_blank">Jasmin Mair</a> talked about "<a href="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246268065289045" target="_blank">My CI/CD pipeline contains all security tools available! Now what...?</a>" (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUe2QlP0FhE&list=PL8N5HiRDvZ-dVdLNXf6kC3WDi8AWBS27g&index=13" target="_blank">check out the recording</a>, too). I loved the strategy she presented to add one tool at a time, train developers, set a baseline, and manage findings. Like eliminating one class of vulnerabilities at a time, and allowing people to follow. For the case of dependency updates, we decided to go service by service, starting with the most critical ones first, and only afterwards include more tools where needed. First make alerts be seen and worth responding to again. Once we live that, we can always improve further. By the way, that was also our approach to clean up other alerts, errors, log spam, and similar noise - enabling ourselves to see what's actually important again when it occurs.</p><p>Here's another side note. Getting things back in shape wasn't done with updating dependencies. It also included other topics like removing unused code. It's always been a struggle to clean up functionality that had been superseded by something better, was just not invested in anymore, or had never been used at all while being dragged along. In one of my previous teams, we decided to get rid of all that under one big theme that also could be sold to business easier: reducing complexity. It's also part of opportunity cost to keep maintaining things that are simply not worth it any more (if they ever were). We can't foretell the future and hence need space to try things out in our product to learn what actually solves the problems our users and business have. Yet if we want to make progress towards a shared goal, we do need to make clear decisions what to keep and what not, and follow through. When I joined my current team with our big legacy system, I was stunned how much unused code was still around from many years ago. This year, we finally had buy-in to clean up - oh how much I loved it! Not only did it indeed reduce complexity and increase maintainability, made things a lot clearer for new teammates, and so on - it also reduced our attack surface! A win on all sides.</p><p>A similar case can be made for services and features we want to keep, yet that are complex, hard to understand, inconvenient to modify, or people are afraid to touch them. Not a great starting point when things go awry and a security incident comes in. Actually, if any incident occurs. Even if nothing bad happens in that area, this part will tend to stay untouched until no one in the team knows about it anymore and it's even costlier and scarier to touch it.</p><p>All in all, when I came across the following statement in <a href="https://shehackspurple.ca/" target="_blank">Tanya Janca</a>'s book "<a href="https://shehackspurple.ca/books/" target="_blank">Alice and Bob Learn Application Security</a>", it made so much sense to me: "<a href="https://shehackspurple.ca/2021/12/23/discoveries-as-a-result-of-the-log4j-debacle/" target="_blank">technical debt is security debt</a>". Big aha moment, this resonated heavily with me. Good for maintenance and extendibility can be really good for security, enabling us to adapt fast to an ever-changing world.</p><p>It's time to bring that original question back to the community: What do you do to make keeping dependencies up to date work?</p></div>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-70942604741309431852023-10-18T23:28:00.013+02:002023-10-27T01:28:33.252+02:00AskAppSec - BSides Munich 2023<p>
When I started out my
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/askappsec.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec challenge</a>, I've asked around for recommendations on communities and conferences in the
security space.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jahmelharris/" target="_blank">Jay Harris</a> encouraged me to look for a local
<a href="http://www.securitybsides.com/w/page/12194156/FrontPage" target="_blank">BSides</a>
event as in his experience these were usually friendly, welcoming and a great
opportunity to network. Now that I've attended my first one with
<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/" target="_blank">BSides Munich</a>, I
can only confirm that impression! Just loved it.
</p><p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Workshop Day</h2>
<p>
The advantage of local events is that no travel is required. The downside, however, that you have to commute to get there in the
first place. This turned out quite tedious with public transport and its
quirks, construction works, emergencies, and so on. Additionally, getting up very early compared to my usual
working days meant I was already tired on arrival. And I was nervous! As with any
new conference I'm at, I never know what awaits me and how I'll deal with that. It got better over time as I've been to
tons of conferences. And yet, the anxious excitement keeps coming back, especially if I don't know anyone from the
community yet who could offer a safe space. This time I got lucky as <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudius-link/" target="_blank">Claudius Link</a>
was coming. We met at <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/09/socrates-2023-a-place-where-i-belong.html" target="_blank">SoCraTes</a>, even gave sessions together this year, and we've just started planning an
initiative for next year (stay tuned). In any case, it's really helpful to have a
familiar face in the crowd!</p>
<p>
On arriving, registration was smooth without any hassle, organizers and
volunteers friendly and helpful, and I was positively surprised about the
welcoming breakfast offered. In general, food was excellent and plenty
throughout the day, including a variety to choose from for people having
different needs and preferences. This makes an event already more inclusive and it's a detail
I do pay attention to in order to gauge the overall spirit and atmosphere.
</p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://infosec.exchange/@BSidesMunich/111233271611797688/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
<p>This first day was dedicated to workshops only. I noticed how few people were around. The
workshop tickets were gone very quickly, yet there was lots of space. Super sad
to see, especially considering the whole event being free. People reserving
tickets yet not showing up meant they took away the opportunity from others
who would have participated. Kudos to organizers who reminded folks frequently upfront to
kindly give tickets back when realizing they couldn't come.
</p>
<p>
There were plenty of workshops to choose from, covering lots of
interesting topics. For me,
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-ully/" target="_blank">Claudia Ully</a>'s full-day workshop "<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/workshops/003-01_MWSLBH_the-hitchhacker-s-guide-to-the-mobile-galaxy/" target="_blank">The Hitchhacker's Guide to the Mobile Galaxy</a>" was a clear winner as I want to dive deeper into mobile security and I
can use the gained knowledge at work. I was not disappointed at all, this
workshop was amazing! I loved how smooth the setup was, especially given that
mobile has lots of requirements. It was awesome that while there is quite some
theory needed to get everybody on a shared page to start from, the focus was on hands-on exercises. Claudia encouraged us to
join forces, help each other and ask questions, which really made this a
safe space to learn. The content was structured in a
way that made it very accessible for people not having experience in the
mobile space yet, while also providing lots of technical details valuable for
people who came with prior knowledge. We went from mobile history and
basics to Android specifics, static analysis, reverse engineering, to a
discourse on iOS, to hooking into things with <a href="https://github.com/frida" target="_blank">Frida</a> and <a href="https://github.com/sensepost/objection" target="_blank">objection</a>. And all
that in the theme of Douglas Adam's "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy" target="_blank">The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</a>"! Claudia even had a "42 - Don't Panic" towel with her, how cool is that? If
you ever have the chance to catch one of her workshops, do it - fully
recommended.
</p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://infosec.exchange/@BSidesMunich/111232797756075375/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
<p>
After such a full day of learning, I was pretty tired - and yet didn't want to
miss the chance of socializing. Hence, I joined Claudius and a friend of his
for drinks to conclude the day in great company.
</p><p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Conference Day</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
The second day came, the main part of the conference with a program full of talks. And a
whole lot more people! Same here, registration was quick, organization smooth,
food was plenty and the venue a great choice, too. Lots of friendly and
helpful organizers and volunteers around, and amazing speakers with a variety of
topics to learn from.</p>
<div><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://infosec.exchange/@BSidesMunich/111237809785881153/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
<p style="text-align: left;">The program consisted of two tracks which presented a difficult choice. Here's an overview of the talks I've picked.
</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
Keynote "<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/talks/001-01_NVUEB9_the-seven-sins-and-virtues-of-it-security-and-how-they-affect-our-world/" target="_blank">The Seven Sins. And Virtues. Of IT Security. And how they affect our
world.</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marioheiderich/" target="_blank">Mario Heiderich</a>. The conference theme was all around the <a href="https://social.bsidesmunich.org/for-every-syn-there-is-a-nack/" target="_blank">7 SYNs</a>. What would the seven sins look like in cybersecurity, and what about the seven virtues? Mario's conclusion resonated with me: we cannot jump to the ideal state, yet we can take small steps and continue to learn.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246266844159506/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li>
<li>
"<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/talks/001-02_XSMDVT_in-direct-syscalls-a-journey-from-high-to-low/" target="_blank">(In)direct Syscalls: A journey from high to low</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-feichter-5277a0140/" target="_blank">Daniel Feichter</a>. This talk dove right into the technicalities of Windows system calls and how red teamers can make use of them to bypass system controls. Packed full of details for a complex topic, this talk could only scratch the surface given the limited time. Daniel encouraged everyone to try it out and consume further material on the topic.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246267040730737/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
"<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/talks/001-03_X8TBDM_soc-analysts-arsenal-essential-tools-tips-and-tricks-for-effective-investigations/" target="_blank">SOC Analyst’s Arsenal: Essential Tools, Tips and Tricks for Effective
Investigations</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-kavaler/" target="_blank">Samuel Kavaler</a>. A talk full of hands-on advice and tool recommendations for the everyday work of a SOC Analyst. For people in different roles like me, it's been also interesting to learn which kinds of tools are used and for what reasons.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246267188103907/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li>
<li>
"<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/talks/002-04_BZBL7B_bio-lock-the-future-and-ethics-around-dna-cryptography/" target="_blank">Bio-Lock The future and ethics around DNA Cryptography</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tayla-micael-sellschop-77059b148/" target="_blank">Tayla Sellschop</a>. Cryptography is a whole topic in itself, yet what if we bring DNA into play? It offers a large storage space, while also not requiring as much computing power and hence power consumption, so it could become a sustainable solution in the future. On the other hand, there are a bunch of problems attached to using your own personal DNA - how would we feel about data breaches then? Yet as Tayla demonstrated, our DNA is already everywhere!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246267344084148/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
"<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/talks/002-05_YYBLSM_secure-containers-do-component-reduction-strategies-fix-your-container-security-nightmares/" target="_blank">Secure containers - Do component reduction strategies fix your container
security nightmares?</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-wager-software/" target="_blank">Michael Wager</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-helwig-574b73104/" target="_blank">Michael Helwig</a>. Really interesting overview of how we could tackle container security by using "distroless" images, only containing the application and its runtime dependencies without any other operating system programs. They are a lot more secure and less open to vulnerabilities, so why not make them the new default? At the same time, they also have disadvantages that might make them less attractive in their current state. Interesting topic to look into further.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246267473731513/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li>
<li>
"<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/talks/001-07_AYSDBU_christmas-hancitor-campaign/" target="_blank">Christmas Hancitor Campaign</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/artem-artemov-82796bb0/" target="_blank">Artem Artemov</a>. Loved this talk showcasing how proactive identification of threat actors and their victims can help prevent impact. Great storytelling of the investigation of a curious case and the actions taken to reveal more information until the puzzle pieces finally fell into their places and harm could be prevented. Incident response does not always have to happen in hindsight, it can start way earlier!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246267650314876/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
"<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/talks/002-07_3HLCPX_what-weve-learned-from-exposing-atlassian-on-the-internet-in-depth-analysis-from-an-offensive-perspective/" target="_blank">What We’ve Learned from Exposing Atlassian on the Internet: In-Depth
Analysis from an Offensive Perspective</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/okazymyrov/" target="_blank">Oleksandr Kazymyrov</a>. A great story of "what would happen if..." and what you can learn from it to improve a system. Relevant for everyone having services publicly exposed to the internet behind SSO. Loved the testing mindset of always going a step further to identify what else can be accessed publicly and misused in an impactful way.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246267811923845/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li>
<li>
"<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/talks/002-08_8S9NAS_devsecops-culture/" target="_blank">DevSecOps culture</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliyazdani/" target="_blank">Ali Yazdani</a>. This talk resonated a lot with me, from misconceptions shared to the cultural mindset shift required - I've seen this over and over again when working in testing and quality! Especially loved the emphasis on easing clear communication across roles as well as solving a problem together hands-on, no matter your role.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246267939466702/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li>
<li>
"<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/talks/002-09_GKUWCQ_my-ci-cd-pipeline-contains-all-security-tools-available-now-what/" target="_blank">My CI/CD pipeline contains all security tools available! Now what...?</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasminmair/" target="_blank">Jasmin Mair</a>. Another awesome talk where I just kept nodding! How many times have I heard some variation of "let's add some more tools" to solve a problem or satisfy a demand. Yet without the respective culture change nothing is solved just by having more tools. People need to learn the tooling, understand findings and figure out how to work towards a better outcome. Jasmin encouraged everyone to see it from a developer's perspective, being overwhelmed with hundreds of tools, each with their own interface and quirks, with every tool adding complexity and pain points. She made clear that proper tool evaluation and adoption is an investment and will take time, yet it's worth it.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246268065289045/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li>
<li>
Keynote "<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/talks/001-11_S9WRGX_security-by-design/" target="_blank">Security by design</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anaoprea/" target="_blank">Ana Oprea</a>. The closing keynote draw a full circle to the opening one, also referring to the conference theme of 7 SYNS and how we can foster the virtues. Ana drew a connection between security and reliability and how designing for one of those aspects can help the other one and vice versa. I also liked that Ana emphasized risk assessment considerations and recommended techniques like threat modelling. She reminded us that people won't always realize they are a target or underestimate adversaries and their driving motivations.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/111246268190869773/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">By the way, <a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/agenda/" target="_blank">slides can already be found on the website</a>, and talk recordings will be published soon.</p><p style="text-align: left;">As I was taking sketchnotes, my biggest challenge was to switch rooms as there were often no
breaks scheduled in between talks. It somehow worked out yet was more
stressful than I hoped for, and it was strange to leave during questions,
missing the answers. On the other hand, the breaks that had been scheduled worked out nicely. The program offered quick ones sufficient for bio breaks, and longer ones to
digest what we've heard, refuel with nourishment, and connect with people.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
The folks I talked with were really friendly and welcoming. Special thanks to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wandel/" target="_blank">Ben Wandel</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudius-link/" target="_blank">Claudius Link</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastianporst/" target="_blank">Sebastian Porst</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergioaffs/" target="_blank">Sergio A. Figueroa</a> for our great lunch table! In general, I didn't notice
much condescending behavior or being frowned upon due to aspects like my role or
gender. I observed quite some diversity with this regard among the participants. Representation was even
higher among the organizer and volunteer group, and it nicely showed in the conference concept and program.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion</h2>
<p>
This conference is driven by community and you can feel it. It was organized with care, ran smoothly, people appreciated the offer and seemed to have a good time. All this provided as a free event. Kudos to
organizers and volunteers, thanks to sponsors for making this possible! </p>
<p>
I went home with my mind being full of all the things I've learned, my soul with all the
new connections I've made, and my heart with the feeling that this is yet another
place and community for me to become truly part of and belong to.
</p>
<p>
This definitely won't be my last BSides Munich and BSides event in general, I'm already looking forward to future ones. So, my first security conference was awesome - what are your recommendations for the next?</p><div><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://infosec.exchange/@BSidesMunich/111240702450417570/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><hr /><p><b>UPDATE</b>: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahri-korkmaz/" target="_blank">Fahri Korkmaz</a> also wrote a <a href="https://r4bb1t.medium.com/bsides-munich-2023-5a3f5c2285bb" target="_blank">blog post about BSides Munich</a>. He shared lots of notes of talks I didn't attend, plus a lot more details on talks I did. Really worth checking it out and diving in deeper!</p></div>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-32659324534086385362023-10-13T23:24:00.001+02:002023-10-13T23:24:41.342+02:00AskAppSec - Security Champions<p>The first time I heard about security champions programs was from <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-janca/" target="_blank">Tanya Janca</a> and the idea stuck with me ever since. If you haven't come across this concept yet, here are a few good resources on it.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://wehackpurple.com/building-security-champions/" target="_blank">Building Security Champions</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-janca/" target="_blank">Tanya Janca</a></li><li><a href="https://owasp.org/www-project-security-culture/v10/4-Security_Champions/" target="_blank">Security Champions (OWASP)</a></li><li><a href="https://snyk.io/series/security-champions/" target="_blank">Security champions series by Snyk</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/edgeroute/security-champion-framework/" target="_blank">The Security Champion Framework</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/securityjourney/" target="_blank">Chris Romeo</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/izartarandach/" target="_blank">Izar Tarandach</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookschoenfield/" target="_blank">Brook Schoenfield</a></li><li><a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2123400/13612436" target="_blank">The Security Champions Podcast: Tanya Janca - A Recipe for Security Champions</a></li></ul><p></p><p>For the first time, I'm in a company that not only has established a security champions program, it's also the first time I became a champion myself! Therefore, the topic grew even more relevant for me in the past months.</p><p>Recently, I came across several rather negative, or let's say frustrated viewpoints on security champions programs. People I met said it just never worked for them. Some shared they were not having real organizational buy-in and the program was merely a point on a checklist to tick off for the company to look good. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/securityjourney/" target="_blank">Chris Romeo</a> shared lots of <a href="https://appsec.beehiiv.com/p/reasonable-appsec-18-five-security-articles-security-champion-antipatterns-podcast-corner" target="_blank">security champion antipatterns</a> in his <a href="https://appsec.beehiiv.com/" target="_blank">Reasonable AppSec newsletter</a> that made me think. "<a href="https://blog.secodis.com/2023/09/13/why-security-champions-are-not-the-silver-bullet/" target="_blank">Why Security Champions Are Not the Silver Bullet</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthias-rohr/" target="_blank">Matthias Rohr</a> is another thought-provoking piece pointing out that other initiatives might work better in certain contexts. What I don't hear much about in my bubble, though, are success stories from security champions programs. I do remember one person at <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/04/booster-conference-2023-changing-perspectives.html" target="_blank">Booster Conf</a> talking about their program that managed to raise awareness and spread knowledge. Yet that's... basically it.</p><p>It's my first experience with such a program and I only see its current state after having run for quite some time. Therefore, I can't really tell how effective our program is and if it improved the situation compared to the one beforehand. From what I've observed, it does indeed seem to work quite well so far. It did manage to bring people together and scale the efforts of our InfoSec folks through having invested volunteers as contact persons and security advocates in each product development team, hence building bridges. There's clear guidance for lots of security topics and good practices. In the teams we have on demand support and feedback from InfoSec at any point from idea to production. At least from my personal perspective, collaboration works really well. We have buy-in and time set aside for security topics and can actively help drive security efforts for our products and the company. Huge shout-out to our awesome InfoSec folks at this point!</p><p>That being said, we recently also talked about how our program can be evolved. The conversation was initiated by an InfoSec person sharing <a href="https://go.snyk.io/security-champions-playbook.html" target="_blank">Snyk's Security Champion Playbook</a> and asking people for improvement ideas we could try. I did share my personal point of view of what I'm missing or what would help me benefit from the program even more. We're all working remotely and as of now asynchronously as security champions. It's not a secret how much I am a fan of <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/collaboration.html" target="_blank">synchronous collaboration</a>, so that's what I would wish for more. Be it in the sense of regular calls with champions and InfoSec, or frequent pairing and ensembling sessions to work hands-on together. This could be on specific learning topics, general fun challenges like Capture the Flag (CTFs) sessions, on our regular security related tasks, or on solving current challenges in the teams - together. Joining the regular InfoSec call where folks exchange current news would be a great addition as well. </p><p>We haven't decided yet what exactly to try out next. I'm curious what other ideas people have, what worked for them best so far and what not at all. More real experiences that we can all draw inspiration from. So, let me ask you: what makes security champions programs effective?</p>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-87773185545081313992023-10-03T21:34:00.003+02:002023-10-09T00:20:56.901+02:00AskAppSec - Painless Usable Security<p>
Imagine security being painless, easily usable and just the usual way we do things. Imagine this
for both those who develop products and those who use these products. Wouldn't that be
amazing? My optimism tells me it's possible, and yet we're often far from it.</p>
<p>In one way or another, I kept thinking about this for the last months. At <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/09/socrates-2023-a-place-where-i-belong.html" target="_blank">SoCraTes</a> and <a href="https://frogsconf.nl/" target="_blank">FroGS conf</a>, I've facilitated sessions on the topic. We gathered lots of insights together with participants,
hearing what struggles they faced and what opportunities they found. What we
can do to change the narrative. Many thanks to everyone who contributed! Here are the points that came up repeatedly when asked what's painful.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Fear. </b>It's scary to ask questions, especially about security. Security teams (if you even have them) might be very detached from teams' everyday realities and not approachable, might even be condescending, or just wave around a policy without being helpful. There's a lot of secrecy and gatekeeping going on as well. And what if we make a mistake and people blame us? What if I see something yet have every incentive encouraging me to look the other way instead of reporting it?</li><li><b>Fatigue. </b>So many alerts, we're overwhelmed already. So many false positives reported by tools, which makes it even easier to ignore yet another scanner result and just bypass it so we can move forward, as we're pressured to do. Security theater is huge at play here as well, everyone talking how important security is without ever seeing real actions taken. Why not just tick those boxes in the easiest way so we can say we comply without actually fulfilling the spirit behind regulations.</li><li><b>Future. </b>Well, security is indeed a future problem, isn't it? Yeah, that risk exists, yet will it really ever happen? We'll rather cross the bridge when we come to it. We have so many other things to do after all. And as we can't invest in prevention now, let's put security last by default. Hence, we can ignore issues we see, as no real pain is perceived - until suddenly the pain is super high.</li><li><b>Friction. </b>I know this is the more secure way, yet I have to jump through ten hoops, get approval from hundred people and then sign this contract with my blood - or... I just do this one-liner change. Procedural problems are real. Poor experience is real. Difficult cross-team collaboration and dependencies are real. And they have very real impact on behavior. If something is way too much effort for what it's worth, we're usually not going this extra mile (or at least aren't rewarded for it).</li><li><b>Futility. </b>Security is just such a huge area, security work is never finished, we'll never know everything. The system is so complex. We lack knowledge and we have so much else to know already. We struggle to see the actual impact of vulnerabilities anyways. We can only know the system is insecure, not the other way around. All this feels really futile, so why invest at all.</li></ul><p></p>
<p>This list resonates with me a lot, and I see these points in my own work context as well. Especially when there's a whole
backlog of things that we know we need to improve, yet struggle with balancing
competing priorities. Fatigue is a real challenge indeed, like fatigue of
pointing out problems and proposing solutions that just don't cut the list of
most valuable things to do right now.</p>
<p>
I've also talked with several people in the communities I'm in, where security was
sometimes perceived as painful due to other reasons. Like, why is security the
only quality aspect that is considered and gets buy-in, what about all the
other ways in which we can harm our users, our own people, our product and company? Why do we
get external experts for security yet not for other topics (like accessibility)? Why do security policies just always make things harder? What is it that security slows us down while not achieving actually more secure outcomes?</p>
<p>Finally, there's the angle from friends and family not working in tech. Security?
Well, that's often perceived as the thing that annoys you, that you skip. Oh
my, another update, why do people have to change things all the time. Oh no,
another factor to log in, why does everybody need to do this nowadays. My goodness,
another popup to click away so I can do my job and go on with my life. I heard a lot of statements like this, usually accompanied with frustration and anger. Or with shrugging things off. I don't care if they have my data, what would they do with it anyways. Yeah, I know this company has proven to do bad things and yet they offer the best usable solution compared to more secure competitors.</p>
<p>
So how can we reduce the pain and friction, increase usability and
make security the easy route to take? In all my conversations, the following points came up repeatedly.</p><ul><li><b>Ease development experience. </b>Anything that makes security easier and reduces friction and cognitive load from the start can help. Include thinking exercises like having <a href="https://xebia.com/blog/threat-modeling-start-using-evil-personas/" target="_blank">evil personas</a> you could use for user stories, and doing <a href="https://www.threatmodelingmanifesto.org/" target="_blank">threat modelling</a> to raise awareness before designing and building solutions. Provide good code examples. Have secure defaults, in frameworks, infrastructure, your own product. Keep things in shape and up to date. Enable folks to deliver fast and well, so we can respond fast and well to new threats. Planning for mistakes (that will inevitably happen) and recovery, and foster a culture where postmortems are considered an invaluable learning opportunity.</li><li><b>Collaborate with security experts early on. </b>No ivory towers, no jargon being thrown around. Instead, security folks being approachable and helpful, enabling team after team, pairing and ensembling hands-on. Security champion programs that actually build bridges and help scale good practices. Do this early on and continuously to make use of the best leverage. Then consider getting external persons to point out problems and receive advice, be it in the form of consultants, audits, bug bounty programs, or coordinated disclosure. </li><li><b>Be clear about risks to help prioritization. </b>Not only do we need to assess risks, risks can also have vastly different impact depending on our specific context. Terrible consequences in one might be reasonably ignorable in another context. Learning what's most relevant in yours, and probing the risk appetite of the organization helps figure out priorities.</li></ul>
<p>
One thing that stuck with me is what both security and UX folks repeat over
and over: security that's not usable is not security. Just as <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmspool/" target="_blank">Jared Spool</a> points out, "<a href="https://www.uie.com/uxsecurity/" target="_blank">If it’s not usable, it’s not secure.</a>" Because people simply won't do it or find their way around. They have a task to accomplish, a goal to achieve, a job to do. If security blocks them instead of supports them, it might as well not be there in the first place.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.uie.com/uxsecurity/" target="_blank">Insecure & Unintuitive: How We Need to Fix the UX of Security</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmspool/" target="_blank">Jared Spool</a></li><li><a href="https://youtu.be/1vcCisj6XXw?t=3451" target="_blank">Secure Design Concepts w/ Tanya Janca</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/security-and-usability--you-can-have-it-all-" target="_blank">Security and usability: you CAN have it all!</a></li><li><a href="https://uxdesign.cc/how-good-ux-leads-to-great-security-293327c83a90" target="_blank">How good UX leads to great security</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshbendavid/" target="_blank">Josh Ben-David</a></li></ul><p></p>
<p>The same applies to development teams. If practices leading to more
security aren't usable, or don't fit in our everyday lives, they simply won't
happen. We have to find ways to make it the easy and frictionless route,
anything else is simply not sustainable.</p>
<p>This whole topic reminds me again of testing and quality, as so many things do in security. It's a lot about culture, it's a lot about advocacy and change. In the end
it's about people. I'm wondering now: the <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/lisihocke/team-transformation-tactics-for-holistic-testing-and-quality-agiletd-open-air-2023#68" target="_blank">team transformation tactics</a> I found
to help move towards holistic testing and quality, could I try them
out for moving towards painless usable security as well? I probably should
give it a try. Now that I'm thinking about it, I realize I literally just did
apply them the last weeks. And before as well.</p>
<p>Let me give an example. One of our current focus topics is keeping our dependencies up to date. Updating
them is one part, yet having a team reliably keep doing so is a whole
different story. What I did was building on existing energies; in this case, building on existing practices that already
worked for the team. And just last week for the first time it worked out well enough. People
felt responsible and updated dependencies on their own without my nudging. It
was clear, it was easy, it was part of everyday work. It didn't cause
friction. Okay granted, I'll have to observe and evaluate this experiment further, yet on first glance it does look like less friction than before.</p>
<p>When it comes to security improvements for our product, I believe we need to work a lot more
and a lot closer with UX folks and product designers. This expertise is invaluable and yet too often underrated. The resources listed above give lots of pointers why.</p><p>That leaves me wondering: why not also work together with UX and design to find more painless, usable, secure ways to build more painless, usable, secure solutions? There's a lot more for me to think about and try out.</p>
<p>I'm sure people made their own experience with this intersection of security and usability as well as respective pain points, be it for their team, organization, product or just generally in life. Therefore, let me ask you all: what's your approach to move towards painless, usable security?</p><p><br /></p>
<hr />
<p><b>UPDATE</b>: This post didn't receive much response from the community yet. Really appreciated this person taking the time to share their thoughts and experiences!</p>
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Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-8518561755379801552023-09-12T22:44:00.006+02:002023-09-27T01:06:08.473+02:00AskAppSec - Input Validation<p>Input validation is a topic that's been following me around for years. I've came across countless resources speaking about the importance of input validation, or input filtering as it's called at times. What stuck with me is the recommendation to validate any input coming from any source, no matter if we're speaking about third parties, public interfaces we offer ourselves, internal services behind a firewall or accessible only from inside a private cluster. No matter if the input comes via clients, APIs, messages, data sources, or anything else. Based on my experience of working in testing and quality focused roles for over 14 years, I couldn't agree more. All that makes a lot of sense to me. Not only from a security point of view, yet also from a holistic quality perspective as input validation can help prevent errors, improve usability, increase observability, and more.</p><p>Here are a few interesting resources speaking about input validation from a security standpoint.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://shehackspurple.ca/contact/" target="_blank">Tanya Janca</a>'s book "<a href="https://shehackspurple.ca/books/" target="_blank">Alice and Bob Learn Application Security</a>" includes a great decision tree for input validation.</li><li><a href="https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Input_Validation_Cheat_Sheet.html" target="_blank">OWASP's Input Validation Cheat Sheet</a> offers a good introduction including examples.</li><li><a href="https://kevinsmith.io/" target="_blank">Kevin Smith</a>'s post on "<a href="https://kevinsmith.io/sanitize-your-inputs/" target="_blank">Sanitize Your Inputs?</a>" includes not only advice on input validation yet also touches on other topics to consider like sanitizing and escaping outputs.</li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cenk-kalpakoglu/" target="_blank">Cenk Kalpakoğlu</a>'s post on <a href="https://kondukto.io/blog/defensive-programming-tips" target="_blank">Defensive Programming Tips-1: Bad URL Handling Patterns</a> showcases a specific example where validation is used as general mitigation approach.</li></ul><p></p><p>Well. Seems convincing people to validate input is also a common challenge in AppSec; it definitely is in my bubble advocating for better quality outcomes. Most frequently I've seen these discussions when working with backend for frontend (BFF) services. This architectural pattern is often applied when you develop mobile applications, yet not limited to it. It is usually found along with having a bunch of downstream services that are all tasked with different duties. The BFF acts as the main entry point or proxy for a single client (e.g., the mobile app), hence only this API is public to the outside world. Any requests are routed through the BFF to the respective downstream backend services (which are usually protected further). Doing so, the BFF orchestrates incoming requests to different services; it can take care of authentication and authorization, as well as filter and aggregate data in order to respond with the needed information.</p><p>If you'd like to learn more about BFFs and see visual or code examples, I found the following resources useful.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://samnewman.io/patterns/architectural/bff/" target="_blank">Pattern: Backends For Frontends</a> by <a href="https://samnewman.io/about/" target="_blank">Sam Newman</a></li><li><a href="https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/bff-soundcloud" target="_blank">BFF @ SoundCloud</a> by <a href="https://www.thoughtworks.com/profiles/l/lukasz-plotnicki" target="_blank">Lukasz Plotnicki</a></li><li><a href="https://blog.bitsrc.io/bff-pattern-dos-and-donts-cf52853491e3" target="_blank">BFF Pattern — Dos and Don’ts</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/viduni-wickramarachchi/" target="_blank">Viduni Wickramarachchi</a></li><li><a href="https://blog.frankel.ch/backend-for-frontend-demo/" target="_blank">Backend-for-Frontend: the demo</a> by <a href="https://blog.frankel.ch/me/" target="_blank">Nicolas Fränkel</a></li><li><a href="https://www.codemag.com/Article/2203081/A-Deep-Dive-into-the-Back-End-for-Front-End-Pattern" target="_blank">A Deep Dive into the Back-End for Front-End Pattern</a> by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joydipkanjilal/" target="_blank">Joydip Kanjilal</a></li></ul><p></p><p>What about input validation for BFFs now? What I've heard frequently from colleagues can be summarized in the following statements.</p><p></p><ul><li>"The BFF is just an API gateway."</li><li>"The BFF should not contain any logic, just pass through anything it receives to the backend services and vice versa."</li><li>"Only the downstream backend service behind the BFF should validate input as it's their responsibility, otherwise we replicate the same logic everywhere."</li><li>"Well, it's okay for the BFF to do sanitization, yet not validation."</li></ul><p>Here's my viewpoint, and I'm very curious to hear further opinions.</p><p>Any modular component of our system needs to sanitize and validate input coming from outside in order to prevent falling into an unknown state. This is both causing poor user experience as well as presents an attractive situation for malicious actors looking for further insights that can be used for exploits. Components include frontend clients in favor of usability, even though malicious actors can easily circumvent them. As long as there is an interface accepting data from another source, there should be validation. Under that premise, I do think that also BFFs should validate incoming data, especially from the public facing side, yet also from internal backend services or other data sources. The BFF is one of the first layers of defense we have, hence if input is validated, we leave the door less wide open. We cannot rely on underlying backend services having foreseen anything that could enter the system from the outside and having sufficient mitigations in place; especially if they are developed by other teams in other contexts who might not even realize the impact of their local decisions. Also, lots of people tend to underestimate threats coming from within the company, like malicious insiders or mere human mistakes. I do understand that it's not always pragmatic or feasible to validate input on all boundaries. Yet if we have to decide, I choose validation at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_boundary" target="_blank">trust boundaries</a>, like between the BFF as public interface and the outside world, as a minimum.</p><p>That being said: context is crucial, as always. Maybe the policy to only validate on the most downstream service works well in your situation. Maybe this is considered way too dangerous as you might be aware that specific services are not in good shape. Or maybe your product domain's nature means you're dealing with lots of confidential, sensitive data and you are more invested in keeping people out right at the door (aka the BFF API) without letting them any farther in. As usual, it depends on the risk appetite of the company, combined with your own ethics of what potential impact and harm you deem acceptable or not.</p><p>One thing I learned over and over again in my career is that arguments might convince rationally, yet they often don't reach people in a way that they change their behavior. They usually need to experience it, and usually a few times (and I'm not excluding myself in this equation). The trouble with security and similar quality aspects: I want to prevent the experience of harmful impact as much as possible. Speaking of the topic of whether it makes sense to validate input also for BFFs. I could of course invest in exploiting lack of validation, or showcasing a close to real situation, yet it's effort that still does not easily change the narrative and then behavior. If you have any further idea or tactic for these kinds of situations, your input is appreciated.</p><p>All in all, I do have a strong opinion on this topic, yet I hold it loosely enough to allow myself to be convinced by better ones. I did find posts that support my standpoint, like "<a href="https://techkluster.com/dot-net/what-does-bff-mean/" target="_blank">Web App Security: Understanding The Meaning Of The BFF Pattern</a>" by Syed Wahaj - yet that might be pure <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias" target="_blank">confirmation bias</a>. So, I'd sincerely love to hear your thoughts and experience about this and learn more: should BFFs validate input?</p><p><br /></p><p></p><hr /><p><b>UPDATE</b>: I've shared this question with the wider community and received some validating feedback. My appreciation to everyone who offered their thoughts!</p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://chaos.social/@mrksdck/111054302977682624/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Great post, Lisi, as always. And I agree, every component should do at least some minimum of input validation to protect itself and the following systems. It adds to stability, observability, user experience, and more. I need to check with my team, when I’m back.</p>— Patrick Prill @testpappy.bsky.social (@TestPappy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TestPappy/status/1701804555330052442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p>What I found especially insightful was the following input from a <a href="https://community.wehackpurple.com/" target="_blank">We Hack Purple Community</a> member, hence sharing it further with their permission so it can help more folks besides me. I think they nailed it, so I mostly maintained the original take with slight format editing from my side.</p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>I think the answer to "Should BFFs validate input?" really depends on what it does with the data. The BFF will need to validate some input, but not necessarily all of it.</i></p><p><i>Generally, anything that looks at the data, parses it or interprets the data in any way will have to validate input.</i></p><p><i>A BFF will likely look at the HTTP request headers, so it has to validate those. It cannot assume that the request headers will be sensible, or not malicious. It may also have to decide how to deal with duplicate request headers, etc.</i></p><p><i>But maybe the BFF does not look at the request bodies, and just passes them through to the backend.</i></p><p><i>It probably would not make sense to duplicate lots of application logic in the BFF to perform application specific input validation on data the BFF itself does not process. Unless, maybe there are very common things that may make sense for a BFF to filter out before bothering the backend with it. But that would then be a bit more like a WAF that may do some general input validation, like looking for common SQL injection patterns. And this still does not absolve the backend from its input validation responsibilities.</i></p><p><i>The backend services will always have to validate the input they are handling, but even backend services may pass some data through to other downstream backend services. The important thing is that everything that looks at the data and processes it performs validation, whether that is a web server, an API gateway, a web API, or a BFF.</i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>My deepest thanks go out to the person who took the time and energy to elaborate on this. They made the distinction I was looking for (without knowing I was): what exactly makes sense to validate where and why, given the specific context at hand. I think this is what I struggled with myself and hence struggled to convey more clearly to colleagues. Taking this explicit distinction, I feel enabled to map it to our context to make better informed decisions, and I also feel equipped to bring more clarity to the next conversation on input validation!</p><p>As a bonus, here's one more thoughtful response allowing us to weigh further aspects against each other.</p><p></p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://infosec.exchange/@Dave_von_S/111130443553242529/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="300"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-77475383982646459712023-09-01T14:20:00.003+02:002023-09-05T23:36:31.330+02:00SoCraTes 2023 - A Place Where I Belong<p>
I nearly didn't go to <a href="https://www.socrates-conference.de/" target="_blank">SoCraTes</a> this year, the "International Conference for Software Craft and Testing". My speaking budget was already
strained, my schedule overbooked, and it would have meant going on vacation
time. But then the organizers reached out and offered me yet another slot on
the training day this year. They were even fine with me giving a workshop I
already had prepared, and I changed my mind. I seized the opportunity and went to
SoCraTes on vacation. What can I say, I don't regret it one bit! Granted, I'm
super tired, and at the same time I'm super happy. It was so much worth it and convinced me to reserve this time of the year for 2024 as well!
</p>
<p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Coming Back</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
It's always super exciting to join a conference for the first time. The second
time around, a few things are already clear - you know the venue, more people,
the procedures and other things that reduce your cognitive load. Still, the
second time is curious as well - how will they welcome me this time? How
easily can I reconnect to <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/09/socrates-2022-a-welcoming-community-of-people-learning-together.html" target="_blank">where we left things last year</a>?
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
The first moments are awkward for me, at any conference. At SoCraTes, this
very quickly vanished into a feeling of belonging. I felt welcomed, I was included, I had a right to be there. This is the foundation for everything
coming afterwards.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
My first contact after seeing familiar faces at registration was a person
being there for the first time,
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydialeifels/" target="_blank">Lydia Leifels</a>
- such a pleasure right from the start! At dinner, I met dear
people I already know for a while, like
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/w3ltraumpirat/" target="_blank">Tobias Göschel</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tdpauw/" target="_blank">Thierry de Pauw</a> (along with their daughter),
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/juke/" target="_blank">Juke Trabold</a>,
and
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/woodyzuill/" target="_blank">Woody Zuill</a>. There were so many awesome folks I got to know or meet again over the
course of the conference! Like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janina-nemec-39875316a/" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-kalmes-375884b7/" target="_blank">Marc Kalmes</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanscheidt/" target="_blank">Stefan Scheidt</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudius-link/" target="_blank">Claudius Link</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lea-rosema/" target="_blank">Lea Rosema</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/waldemar-tomme-860873160/" target="_blank">Waldemar Tomme</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-schmidt-74b9b727b/" target="_blank">Martin Schmidt</a>,
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/markustacker/" target="_blank">Markus Tacker</a> - well, the list could go on and on.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Training Day</h2>
<p>
The second edition of the training day was even better than the first one.
Trainers were amazing both times, yet for this year organizers listened well
to the feedback and crafted a schedule of three tracks with each session
having enough time to dive into the topic and generous breaks in between. Just
awesome. Here's the choice of sessions I made.
</p>
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
"Enforcing Architecture Using Tests" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlasoc/" target="_blank">Javiera Laso</a>. This was the first time I heard about
<a href="https://github.com/TNG/ArchUnit" target="_blank">ArchUnit</a>, a
library to check for conventions like file names, structure, dependencies
and more. Writing tests was quite straightforward, and I can see how these could
support maintainability and reduce friction by codifying agreements.
</li>
<li>
"Modernize CI/CD Session" by
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rradczewski/" target="_blank">Raimo Radczewski</a>
&
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cneuroth/" target="_blank">Chris Neuroth</a>. Very interesting talk sharing fundamental principles for a pipeline
optimized for quick feedback while going small, safe steps. They
demonstrated live how fast a change can be on production. A few statements I really related to were these:
"minimize the time from code written to code on mainline, deployed
to real users, running in a real environment, ready to be
evaluated - there is no other way to develop software
sustainably", "influence the loops you can", "the moment we stop
slicing we deliver slower", "skip the review, pair with someone".
</li>
<li>
"Ensemble Exploratory Testing" by me. Fun fact, I've given this workshop now
for the 10th time so it became my most repeated conference session ever so
far. Good thing is, it seems it doesn't get old! This time again, people were eager to join and seemed to enjoy the learning experience (which hopefully convinced them to try
new approaches back at work). Well, I had fun observing people having lots of aha
moments together.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110944895877416069/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li>
<li>
"Take a mess, make a mess, fix the mess" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rinkkasatiainen/" target="_blank">Aki Salmi</a>. A very interesting session on refactoring code that's untestable and contains hidden
domain concepts, code that's still valuable yet needs to be modified. How?
Together, we tried an approach many of us had not seen before: not even
trying to understand the code in the first place. Instead, using the IDE's automated refactoring tools to slice
it up first, turning hard to test code into easy to test code. Then we
can document its behavior in tests, and hence gain our safety net to make
the required changes. Check it out, you can
<a href="https://github.com/rinkkasatiainen/test-bootstrap/commits/make-a-mess-talk" target="_blank">follow every small commit Aki made</a>.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-carlo-095b243b/" target="_blank">Nicolas Carlo</a>
also wrote a great post on this where you can follow an example: "<a href="https://understandlegacycode.com/blog/another-way-of-refactoring-untested-code/" target="_blank">Another way of refactoring untested code</a>" (by the way, his newsletter is super insightful and a clear
recommendation).
</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: left;">
After the training day ended, the main part of the conference was opened with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_caf%C3%A9_(conversation)" target="_blank">world café</a>.
Find a group of people you don't know, take a question as starting point, see
where the conversation leads you and doodle your insights on a shared canvas. After a given time box is over, everyone find themselves new groups besides one person
staying at the table and getting the newcomers on the same page. Repeat until
you finished three rounds. Really nice exercise, perfect to get to know first
people ahead of the main conference part and have interesting conversations
emerge. One main theme we had was on people, community,
culture and how that's foundational. In case you're wondering where to start,
I have a
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/inclusion.html" target="_blank">resource collection on inclusion</a>
that really helped me.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://chaos.social/@coderbyheart/110946187094244626/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">That's not the end of the day, of course - SoCraTes goes all in! Everyone is
at the same place, we're together the whole time, so of course there's an
evening / anytime during the night / morning schedule with bonus activities
suggested by anyone. Such a good thing our hotel rooms are right there to
retreat and rest any time. I love how Juke as facilitator and also organizers
continuously emphasized the importance of caring for your needs and taking
breaks.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Having learned from last year that joining all sessions can be quickly very exhausting, I decided to use the evening time for conversations and enjoying
both atmosphere and company of wonderful people.</p>
<p></p>
<p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Open Space Day 1</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Days start early at SoCraTes for me being a night owl, yet it's worth it. In
its core it's an
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference" target="_blank">unconference</a>
offering an <a href="https://www.socrates-conference.de/format" target="_blank">open space</a> for everyone to bring their topics. Things they want to
share, conversations they'd like to have, apps they want to build, tools to
try out, skills to practice - and also challenges they'd like to get help on. With so many different people, there's a whole range of topics offered, covering a spectrum of deep dive tech
topics to humans and culture as foundation for everything. No matter if it's
very personal, related with our professions, challenges in society, or all combined, everything is represented. There are also sessions like doodling together, painting your nails, talking about sheep, whatever is most valuable to people right now. Be
prepared to be surprised! This format of building your own schedule together
on the fly works amazingly well. It definitely worked out well for me again
this year.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://chaos.social/@yogan/110949434113725694/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe></p><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
"Web accessibility - building beautiful web sites that don't make you puke"
by
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hi-njan/" target="_blank">njan Völker</a> and Lina Sievering. I had hoped to learn more about accessibility at
the conference, and already the first session was right on spot! Awesome workshop focused all
around motion sickness induced by websites and apps. A topic close to
my heart as I'm affected myself. Njan and Lina provided mindful and
enlightening exercises to convey the problem and think of more accessible
options together. Thanks to them, I also learned about the
<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1202&intPageId=5581&langId=en#:~:text=All%20EU%20Member%20States%20must,by%20the%20Act%20are%20accessible" target="_blank">European Accessibility Act becoming effective as of 28 June 2025</a>
- which means accessibility will be enforceable in Europe which hopefully gives us more
leverage for accessible solutions when making product decisions.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://lea.lgbt/@lea/110965660307218864/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe></li>
<li>
"Capture the flag together" by me. As part of my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/askappsec.html" target="_blank">personal AskAppSec challenge</a>, I recently tried out further services offering hacking labs like
<a href="https://tryhackme.com/" target="_blank">TryHackMe</a> and
<a href="https://hackthebox.com/" target="_blank">Hack The Box</a> to practice penetration testing. The
first challenges were good fun to me, so I thought why not offer a session
and do it together during the open space. I was
positively surprised how many people came and joined me! I opted for <a href="https://hackthebox.com/" target="_blank">Hack The Box</a> and their starting point machines. It worked super well, people were
engaged, shared lots of knowledge and we captured a flag together (the
second we missed only due to my VPN interfering). A very insightful
experience, validating my assumption that there's interest and these could
be great sessions for more people to learn about security in a fun way.
</li>
<li>
"Security for devs (& everyone)" by
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudius-link/" target="_blank">Claudius Link</a>
and me. The more security sessions the better, right? So why not host another one,
together with Claudius who had the same idea. We had a great conversation
with people bringing up all kinds of insights and common challenges. Nothing was immediately new
for me, and yet it was validating to hear experienced people share similar
views.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110952785991276899/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li>
<li>
"Documentation as Code" by
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/markus-decke/" target="_blank">Markus Decke</a>. We work together at the same company, and we are transitioning to having
more and more documentation as code, so I was curious about other people's
ideas, struggles and in general experiences. We talked about benefits and
use cases, shared tooling options and their limitations. One of the main
themes was around what problem we're trying to solve and then aim for
tackling exactly that, nothing else not to document only for the sake of documentation.
</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: left;">What about the evening? Well, after open space is before open space! As mentioned, there's
always an evening schedule people are building up. Once more, I opted for dinner,
conversations and more fun time! Last year I discovered that <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janina-nemec-39875316a/" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a> is an absolutely pro in playing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_(card_game)" target="_blank">Set</a>, a card deck game I've learned to love
through the testing community. At first we didn't spot any deck so decided to opt
for a round of <a href="https://www.explodingkittens.com/" target="_blank">Exploding Kittens</a> (so much fun) - and finally discovered a
Set deck in the end. Well, next year we're prepared to bring our own decks.
Such a good way to close the day.
</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<div></div>
<p></p>
<h2>Open Space Day 2</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
New day, new schedule. Every day starts a tiny bit later, which is still early for me.
And yet it was awesome again and worth the early start.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110969071296196651/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe></p><div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/stop-being-a-superhero/" target="_blank">Stop being a superhero!</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janina-nemec-39875316a/" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a>. She did an early dry run of her upcoming talk to be presented at
<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a>
this year - which is your chance to catch this talk, you'll be in for a
treat! Janina has vast experience of working in an ensemble full time for
many years. In her talk she describes (superhero) behavioral patterns
she's observed (like the architecture wise or the coding wizard - way too relatable) and the pain points that result from them (like lots of work in progress without things getting done, or the behavior not helping the team grow and work sustainably). There's a solution for this: working together as an ensemble, or team programming as
she calls it - saving the world together.
</li>
<li>
"Build a minimal showcase app" by me. I have a recurring argument around a security topic and wanted to finally start building a minimal app to demonstrate good security practices. So what could be better than get this started together right at the conference? Nonetheless, I nearly didn't dare to
suggest the session. And then I thought no
one shows up (I didn't realize it was break time). Until people did show up and we formed a wonderful little ensemble helping me get started on a good way. Everyone else enjoyed setting things up and realizing that we all struggle in certain areas. When doing it together, however, we usually have the missing piece of knowledge in the round to
avoid friction, solve problems without frustration, learn with fun, and
get to value fast. A pleasant experience, would have loved to continue
together.
</li>
<li>
"Security scanning in pipeline" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rradczewski/" target="_blank">Raimo Radczewski</a> & <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cneuroth/" target="_blank">Chris Neuroth</a>. Both wanted to try out security scanning tools like
<a href="https://trivy.dev/" target="_blank">Trivy</a>,
<a href="https://anchore.com/opensource/" target="_blank">Syft and Grype</a>
on a real case example and see how they work and what value they bring. A
really interesting session that then also sparked a serendipitous hallway
conversation on why
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_tree" target="_blank">attack trees</a>
might work better compared to
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threat_model" target="_blank">threat models</a> in order to get people to think like malicious actors and consider risk.</li>
<li>
"Security games" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudius-link/" target="_blank">Claudius Link</a>. He brought a whole bunch of games to teach security in a safe space
with fun. We could try out a few of them and gain experience how they
could be used for educational purposes. Games like <a href="https://github.com/adamshostack/eop" target="_blank">Elevation of privilege</a>
and
<a href="https://owasp.org/www-project-cornucopia/" target="_blank">OWASP Cornucopia</a>, yet also <a href="https://d0x3d.com/" target="_blank">[d0x3d!]</a> and a lot more I can't remember. Now I know there are a lot
more out there to try out!
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p style="text-align: left;">
This was the last day for the main part of the conference, so we closed it
with a retrospective. The best part here was that it didn't merely gather feedback for organizers and Juke as facilitator, it also was intended to provide feedback for each other as participants. Over half of my
group were here for the first time, and I just loved hearing their feedback
and also input to make it even better for each other.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
A gratitude round followed. The challenge was to thank five people we have not
thanked yet. Honestly, this experience was a bit overwhelming, in all the best
ways - and more than one feedback took me by surprise. I haven't mentioned
yet, this conference goes big on hand-written kudos cards you can hand out any
time for anything you appreciated the other person doing. The ones I received
I will keep with me for long, they present such a dear memory.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Dinner followed with more great conversations. Then further sessions were hosted (remember, the evening schedule). I had a great time joining a code
kata ensemble. We did the "<a href="https://github.com/stefanscheidt/vending-machine" target="_blank">Vending Machine Kata</a>" which was an insightful exercise itself, yet my main takeaways were on the
collaboration part. It was fascinating to see an ensemble start off quite free
style and converge to more structure like having a dedicated navigator, using a timer
for rotations, having the navigator stand up to be more prominent, etc. It just
worked better with folks who have never worked with
each other in this way. Also, we used the fish-bowl approach to ensembling, having outside observers and always open spots to join the ensemble. This
exercise made me realize once again that this approach is simply not for me,
despite having super kind and safe people around me it felt exclusive. I'm
very sure it's actually more inclusive for other people to opt in. For me I much prefer
the "all together just one ensemble without observers" format.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Last but not least, a retro gaming session! We played the old adventure game
"<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zak_McKracken_and_the_Alien_Mindbenders" target="_blank">Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders</a>" all together on a C64 system provided by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/w3ltraumpirat/" target="_blank">Tobias Göschel</a> - how
awesome was that?</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Workshop Day</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Have I said the conference is over? There's still the additional workshop day!
And what better format to have than asking people to bring their topics for hands-on
sessions also on this day. It's also the time of the traditional code retreat, practicing the whole
day solving the same kata in various ways. Originally, I was adamant to join the code retreat again, it was simply
an amazing experience last year. And then <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudius-link/" target="_blank">Claudius Link</a> came and suggested the only thing that could possibly lure me away:
co-facilitating a security workshop. Well, what shall I say? I couldn't
resist, this fit way too perfectly to my
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/askappsec.html" target="_blank">personal AskAppSec challenge</a>
this year.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
We aligned on our main thoughts of what to aim for, pitched it to a fellow
participant, incorporated the feedback, and came up with a workshop on
"Painless Security". We crafted the agenda shortly before and went
ahead with it, playing it by ear and experience in giving workshops. Having
co-hosted a session the other day helped, too. Co-facilitation worked super
well together, we often thought along the same lines and built on each others
ideas. People shared many painful experiences and we gathered potential things
to try out and what we related with most to bring back to work. I took a lot
with me myself.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110969163783096587/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
During lunch time, the security theme continued for me. First thinking about security
conferences and ideas to contribute to the space together with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudius-link/" target="_blank">Claudius Link</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanne-neunes-a7b614191/" target="_blank">Susanne Neunes</a>. Heading back towards the conference rooms, I noticed another table
where <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-schmidt-74b9b727b/" target="_blank">Martin Schmidt</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipp-zug-a892161b/" target="_blank">Philipp Zug</a>, who also both participated in our security workshop, were scheming on a new
security card deck. I loved the idea and they were so kind to invite me in.
Well, it seems I got myself involved in two new topics - and yet I feel these
are very much worth it.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
I decided to check out what other sessions might still run that I could join.
First, coffee though - and that's when
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthias-klass-658875201/" target="_blank">Matthias Klass</a> approached me and asked whether we might have another capture the flag
session together, as a couple of people expressed their interest. Well, I didn't need to
check the schedule anymore, security theme it was for the whole day! Of course
I'll host another capture the flag session. What can I say, it was awesome! We
spent the whole time until we officially had to leave the room and head
for dinner. Nearly instantly, the idea popped up whether we could ask the hotel for opening
the room once more during the evening. Asking was worth it, we got the keys
and went all in after dinner. Many more rounds of capturing flags followed
until everyone was so tired we couldn't think anymore - while being just super
happy. Some of the challenges tackled were very familiar to us and hence solved a lot faster, others required us to piece
together knowledge we usually don't need. All of them were very insightful and fun.
So much fun. I loved that we all worked together so effectively as a big ensemble again. I really want to do more of this.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
There's a traditional count of code katas done at SoCraTes, counting each
exercise by everyone. I was really moved seeing so many people join me on
practicing penetration testing, staying with me for so long and sharing my
enthusiasm. It felt we just established a new counter at SoCraTes next to the
code kata counter: the captured flags counter, aka the number of security
secrets discovered. We collectively increased it to 8 overall!
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Why again next year?</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Heading home, my heart was full, my brain energized, my body tired, and me
super happy. I was certain that if I have any chance to be back next year I
will take it.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Besides the obvious reasons of self-selected, very insightful content and just
amazingly kind and inspiring people, there's a reason that is even more important. This
conference is the best I've seen so far in intentionally designing welcoming
and inclusive spaces. They continue to reduce friction and make it more
accessible and safer to more and more people. Literally every year. There are
lots of aspects of this to be found everywhere. Not only in the code of conduct
that's actually being lived and enforced, or offering all gender toilets, or giving away tickets based on a lottery to level the playing field. It's
in every little detail. Less noisy applause by waving hands. Exact food labelling
and plenty of options for everyone. Child care service so lots of parents could
join this year. Sharing Covid tests upfront for every day and encouraging
masks.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
The level of diversity already achieved has a huge positive impact on the
quality of conversations and insights gained. A lot to learn and take with me
to do better myself.
</p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110969262662256043/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://chaos.social/@coderbyheart/110957712172326991/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-58596624890332481002023-07-19T01:18:00.001+02:002023-07-19T01:18:29.653+02:00AskAppSec - Gaining Momentum<p>
Last time I wrote about my
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/06/askappsec-on-late-beginnings-distracting-struggles-and-finding-community.html" target="_blank">struggles to kick off</a>
my
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/askappsec.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec challenge</a>. Allowing myself to go tiny steps and considering any small thing as progress,
I was able to make just that - progress. Well, I've had to learn this lesson
multiple times already on different topics, this is just another example.
Still works all the time.
</p>
<p>
So here's what happened since my last post. The following actions helped me get out of the scary zone, slowly and steadily.</p>
<p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Ask More People</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
I reached out to more security folks like
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jahmelharris/" target="_blank">Jay Harris</a>
and
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielbilling/" target="_blank">Dan Billing</a> and asked them for recommendations on online communities out there. This way, I learned about new options I had not considered
yet. Even when they confirmed communities I already had on my list, it provided validation that I wasn't too far off. I also got
inspired by a <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6kldhNZm65zNAVmBb2C6mF?si=sv9-0hZpSbiK0wstT7oo1A&nd=1" target="_blank">podcast episode</a> where
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-janca/" target="_blank">Tanya Janca</a> emphasized the importance of joining communities and named further ones. Last but not least, I finally asked publicly for recommendations and yet again could add more to my list.
</p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110725604288537427/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Join Further Communities</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">Now that I knew about more communities, I indeed joined more of them. Initially, I felt
adding too many would be overwhelming, yet as my initial attempts were going
slow, I changed strategy. So I joined as many communities as possible
to try them out and see which ones would end up as the best suited for me.
Once I started, entering new ones wasn't as scary anymore as in the very
beginning. If it's scary, do it more often, right? So now I've added the
following ones to the
<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/06/askappsec-on-late-beginnings-distracting-struggles-and-finding-community.html" target="_blank">those I had joined already</a>.
</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<a href="http://www.securitybsides.com/w/page/12194156/FrontPage" target="_blank">BSides</a>, respectively the
<a href="https://discord.com/invite/RVWbAk5R6u" target="_blank">MUC:SEC Discord</a>
as the related folks are organizing
<a href="https://2023.bsidesmunich.org/" target="_blank">BSides Munich</a>,
which is definitely on my list to go to this year</li>
<li>
<a href="https://discord.com/invite/DEFCON" target="_blank">DEF CON Discord</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.devseccon.com/" target="_blank">DevSecCon</a>'s
<a href="https://discord.com/invite/devsecops-community-918181751526948884" target="_blank">DevSecOps Community Discord</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://discord.com/invite/hackthebox" target="_blank">HackTheBox Discord</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://discord.com/invite/F2HKJmQ" target="_blank">Laptop Hacking Coffee Discord</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://discord.com/invite/tcm" target="_blank">TCM Security Discord</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://discord.com/invite/2JjfB7E" target="_blank">Threat Hunter Community Discord</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://discord.com/invite/tryhackme" target="_blank">TryHackMe Discord</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.techyeet.org/" target="_blank">TechYeet</a> Slack</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.womenofsecurity.com/" target="_blank">Women of Security (WoSEC)</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://womenscyberjutsu.org/" target="_blank">Women's Society of Cyberjutsu</a>
</li>
<li><a href="https://www.cyversity.org/" target="_blank">Cyversity</a></li>
<li>Any <a href="https://www.meetup.com/topics/information-security/" target="_blank">InfoSec</a> or <a href="https://www.meetup.com/topics/application-security/" target="_blank">AppSec meetup</a>
I could find that either was local to me or offered virtual events, like
the <a href="https://www.meetup.com/OWASP-DevSlop-Project/" target="_blank">OWASP-DevSlop-Project</a>
</li>
</ul><p style="text-align: left;">
There are a few options on my list I haven't tried yet as they didn't feel like a good
fit right now. Nonetheless, I'm still on the lookout for more online
communities, so anyone having recommendations please reach out.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Collect Security Resources</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
I've come across quite some interesting stuff in the past years, so why
not finally start a page of recommended resources dedicated to security. I
felt this would be an easy quick win to make progress, it would be great to have a foundation to
build on and extend with anything I'm learning now, and nice to be able to share a page with folks interested to learn more about security as well.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Feel free to check out my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/security.html" target="_blank">recommended security resources</a>, maybe this collection already offers something of value for you.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Start AppSec Courses</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
I'm still reading <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-janca/" target="_blank">Tanya Janca</a>'s awesome book "<a href="https://shehackspurple.ca/books/" target="_blank">Alice and Bob Learn Application Security</a>". I'm a slow reader of non-fiction books, especially if I'm not traveling.
So, I thought why not also try out the courses she offers at the
<a href="https://academy.wehackpurple.com/" target="_blank">We Hack Purple Academy</a>. There are a few
<a href="https://academy.wehackpurple.com/collections/free-courses" target="_blank">free mini-courses</a> available. The paid ones seem very reasonably priced, especially considering
the fact that they represent exactly what I'm looking for. There's even a
bundle of the four most interesting courses to me, which I'm currently
on: <a href="https://academy.wehackpurple.com/bundles/application-security-foundations-bundle-plus-secure-coding" target="_blank">AppSec Foundations Bundle + Secure Coding</a>.
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Prepare First Challenge</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
I do have a whole list of potential <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/12/new-year-new-pact-time-for-another-personal-challenge.html" target="_blank">mobile AppSec challenge</a> options. I still need to
pick the first to tackle, write about and ask feedback for. While I have a hunch which topic it's
going to be be about, I'm fine with not having made the final decision yet. Again, tiny steps, and that particular one is on my radar of things
to do next - besides consuming resources and engaging with the communities
I've joined.</p><p style="text-align: left;">It'll come, at the right time and pace. As long as I can build on the gained momentum, I'll be fine.</p>
Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-51104771994540715072023-06-29T00:53:00.003+02:002023-06-29T01:09:27.451+02:00AskAppSec - On Late Beginnings, Distracting Struggles and Finding Community<p>The personal challenge I picked for 2023 is <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/askappsec.html" target="_blank">AskAppSec</a>. I believe that joining and actively participating in at least one security community for a period of six months will increase my understanding of practical application security in everyday work situations. When <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/12/new-year-new-pact-time-for-another-personal-challenge.html" target="_blank">I decided on my challenge end of last year</a>, it felt it would be a perfect fit: scary and a worthy endeavor allowing me to grow while sharing hopefully useful content. It also fit well to what I set out to do at work, taking on more explicit advocacy for security in my team and the company.</p><p>Sounded all nice and well to me, and yet I struggled, more than I expected. I'm acutely aware that it's already the middle of the year, and where am I? Well, it's not that I didn't move at all, yet I'm clearly not where I hoped to be. I need to acknowledge it and accept just as it is in order to move on from here.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Biting Off More than I Can Chew</h2><p>I've been learning in public for quite some time now, and I still enjoy when I can fully dive into a topic. This year I thought it's the time again to do just that, going full in! And then life happened. Now half the year is already over, and not so much was done yet. I'm struggling with processing this. I'm between trying to allow myself to go slower, and beating myself up that I actually didn't go slow so far but instead opted in for so many other things. Distractions. Valuable stuff, yet definitely distracting me from what I set out to do: my personal AskAppSec challenge. I've recently been at <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/05/agile-testing-days-usa-2023-a-lot-to-think-about.html" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days USA</a> where <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drrochellecarr/" target="_blank">Dr. Rochelle Carr</a> dropped wisdom that heavily reminded me of my situation. In her fantastic keynote "<a href="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110434503925875873" target="_blank">The WHY you are</a>", she told us to remove unneeded distractions to our own potential. Does it feed your "why"? If not, don't get off course.</p><p>So, let's face it. I took on too much this year. I declined opportunities, and yet said yes to others - including creating new conference sessions. I really forgot how time-consuming and energy-draining that is (although it can have a really nice return on investment). Plus draining life stuff happened on top of all this that also demands capacity. Work is very consuming as well, although it does give me back a lot, too.</p><p>So here am I again, trying to remove tasks from my to-do list and gain more headspace so I can do bigger things, like working on my challenge. Because I also realized, I continue doing things just because I started them once, they tend to pile up as obligations - and then I bear the pain of opportunity cost and never get to things that would grow or amuse me. </p><p>At the same time, there are a few things I always wanted to do and be better at. Over and over in my life, I practiced them for a while and dropped them again, just to pick them up to start over again and again. Recently, I realized that I added most of these to my daily habits checklist. So I actually do work on them, even though only very little by little, yet mostly every day and I make progress. I did consider them distractions for some time, yet maybe these ones are indeed not.</p><p>Finally, I kept my public writing to a bare minimum. This blog usually helped me reflect by writing things out, like a public journal on non-confidential work and growth topics. I stopped doing so as well, only fulfilling what I had loaded on myself, like writing a blog post per on-site conference. With this one, I am again just writing down my thoughts which is more than I did the last months and it feels good.</p><p>So, here's where I am right now. This is my attempt in bringing a bit more order to the chaos of my thoughts. Maybe I am indeed slacking off on the things I care about and do too much of the other things that are rather distractions. It's time to reconsider and only keep what adds to my own why, respectively the goal I had set for myself. Gain energy, headspace, and focus on what moves me forward to get stuff done and learn from it as I go.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Starting Late in the Year</h2><p>Back to my challenge. Beginning of the year I had gathered material to work with, like communities I could join, interesting resources, potential challenges, and so on. Only beginning of May, I could finally start acting on this material, though.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The last months kept me super busy as life threw me a few curveballs. Yet today I finally managed to kick off my personal challenge of 2023: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AskAppSec?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AskAppSec</a>. It's scary and I can't wait for what I'll learn on this journey! 🤩 To read more about it: <a href="https://t.co/WI9Gfh6m12">https://t.co/WI9Gfh6m12</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1653156806162563074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p>The first weeks went quite well. I joined a few online security communities and tried first interactions, more or less successful. I read more stuff. And yet, I still found this very hard. I thought about things I could do, and then - once again - lacked focus. Distractions came my way and I happily jumped on them. At times it helps me to find more headspace if I get things out of the way first, yet this time I instead ended up lacking energy to work on my personal challenge.</p><p>At the same time, I'm still scared of this challenge. How did I do this in the past years? I conquered my fear back then and did it anyway, so how about now? I guess the only way to do this, as last years, is go step by step and never hesitate or look back. I need to break this challenge down more clearly in my head, and then finish one step after another instead of jumping around between different tasks. Do small tangible stuff.</p><p>Whenever I leave the challenge be, it festers in my mind and gets even bigger than it is. Whenever I take a step, it becomes a step smaller and seems more doable. It becomes less scary and getting stuff done simply feels good. I guess one big issue with security is that I started this topic a few times already in the past and stopped again each time, hence I couldn't build on the momentum. Turns out, <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/03/consistency.html" target="_blank">consistency</a> is once again crucial for me.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">What Happened So Far, After All</h2><p style="text-align: left;">My first goal was to join communities and find a new additional place for me to learn and share. I focused mostly on online places as I don't have capacity left for on-site events this year, and didn't want to rely on local meetups only. The three communities I joined so far are the following.</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://community.wehackpurple.com/" target="_blank">We Hack Purple</a>. This community is initiated by <a href="https://shehackspurple.ca/" target="_blank">Tanya Janca</a>. I benefitted a lot from her content over the years and this community felt like a great fit to start. I actually already had joined back in 2021, yet then neglected it. This place had been quite welcoming so far, yet I feel I joined at a moment where there was not too much activity going on - I see it increasing these days. My first attempts to connect didn't receive too much response, yet it's still a promising community to be in and learn with.</li><li><a href="https://owasp.org/slack/invite" target="_blank">OWASP Slack</a>. Well, <a href="https://owasp.org/" target="_blank">OWASP</a> continues to be the one constant we keep hearing about again and again. It's a frequently used reference point when it comes to all things application security. Everybody I talked with who had joined local chapters mentioned that the community culture differed heavily depending on the chapter. So I decided to join the global Slack first, which is quite active. Also here, I had first interactions, nothing groundbreaking yet.</li><li><a href="https://infosecwriteups.com/new-discord-channel-for-infosec-enthusiasts-3d7ff11abb55" target="_blank">InfoSec Community Discord</a>. A colleague brought my attention to this one. It's not been overly active these months and it felt the hardest to join in so far based on its structure and engagement. It's still good to be there and see what's going on and being shared.</li></ul>I have a whole list of other communities I could join. In the beginning, I wanted to start with only a handful not to overwhelm myself, yet now I'm considering adding more. I'm especially interested in places people can recommend, so I started asking around for personal experiences.<p></p><p style="text-align: left;">I dived into further resources as well, which had been quite insightful so far. For example, I finally started reading Tanya's book "<a href="https://shehackspurple.ca/books/" target="_blank">Alice and Bob Learn Application Security</a>". It's really awesome and I can already recommend it. Tanya manages to explain security concepts in a comprehensible, digestible and engaging way. Theory, examples, stories, and actionable exercises - all included. For me it's perfect to see what I already know and what not yet, and for which concepts I had a grasp yet lacked the official term for.</p><p style="text-align: left;">At work, mobile application security is my topic of the year as well and quite some stuff got moving there already. For example, we aligned in the team on an application security strategy to get where we want to be, and already took steps to get closer. I had a few sessions together with our awesome InfoSec folks to build security in, test together, and gain more clarity on specific topics. Also, I joined my very first security audit and officially took over the role as security champion for my team. More is in the making.</p>
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<p style="text-align: left;">Finally, I still continue having monthly security testing sessions with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/codecop/" target="_blank">Peter Kofler</a>. We kept doing these ever since my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/testing-tour.html" target="_blank">Testing Tour</a> back in 2018, we just never stopped! We're not moving fast yet continuously. This way, we could already cover lots of ground in theory and practice together. Well, there's always more to learn and always something new going on, we won't run out of topics any time soon. It's been great to see how much we can build on the insights we gained over the years.</p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Probable Next Steps</h2><p style="text-align: left;">Well, I don't know what life and this challenge brings, yet I have a rough plan on my next moves.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I'll see what I can do to get more active in the communities I'm already in, seeing where I can find help and inspiration, and also practice giving back as much as I can already. I'm considering joining more communities, so I'll continue seeking recommendations. I'm also looking out for events that might still suit my schedule this year, and probably bring my topics to the events I'm already going to.</p><p style="text-align: left;">It'll soon be time to decide on my first hands-on challenge around mobile application security that I can share about and get feedback on. This will also include finding safe ways to practice and share without causing harm.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Finally, I'm still gathering and consuming more resources on application security in general.</p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><h2>Reflections for Moving Forward</h2></div><p style="text-align: left;">This year was full of distractions so far. Over and over, I allowed myself to be pulled away from my personal challenge. Then my brain got so tired that I just kept working on these distractions which I perceived way easier than doing the scary thing, and they kept me nicely busy anyways. Yet also more guilty with every step. Especially considering my usual timeline for personal challenges from January to October. Seeing so much time having passed already without much progress is frightening and paralyzing. Having too many options what to do next, is too. The last months, my brain kept jumping between too many threads, and not producing the clear structure I dearly need to hold on to and not get lost.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Also, why didn't I ask more of my existing network connections yet, as I do know several folks who work in security? For other topics I did that a lot, so why not here? After all, I'm not alone - and the whole topic is about reaching out!</p><p style="text-align: left;">Well. This challenge is indeed scary for me. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Is it because security is such a vast area of expertise? Or maybe because it's difficult to impossible to share about real everyday work challenges? I liked to believe so, yet on the other hand I had similar situations already where there was always a way to still learn and share. I wonder if it's because I interrupted my streak of <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/personal-challenges.html" target="_blank">personal challenges</a> and can't build on the past momentum of learning in public to the same extent. Maybe it's because it's very long time ago since I had to join a new community, especially online compared to mingling at on-site events - and it's difficult to have to prove myself all over again. Or it might just be a tough year for me, and that after a few years of drained energy - which might cause my fear overshadow my curiosity and hope. Heck, maybe I'm once again overthinking way too much. Probably it's all of it combined.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Maybe it'll get easier once I can focus my head on hands-on challenges. Right now, consuming resources and practicing would feel closer to my comfort zone than making my way into security communities. But that's exactly what I am aiming for.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I should indeed take my own advice and do a bit every day, just a few minutes, yet every day. Tiny steps go a long way and still result in lots of practice in the end. For that, I have to be okay with good enough for now, and not worry too much about my originally envisioned timeline that clearly didn't work out this time - which is fine.</p><p style="text-align: left;">So be it. Slow steps it is, and I'll become okay with it. As long as I do take the next step it still keeps me moving in a generally good direction. At <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2023/06/agiletd-open-air-2023-welcome-to-unicorn-beach.html" target="_blank">AgileTD Open Air</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetgregory/" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a> shared a quote by <a href="https://www.quotespedia.org/authors/p/paulo-coelho/an-arrow-can-only-be-shot-by-pulling-it-backward-so-when-life-is-dragging-you-back-with-difficulties-it-means-that-its-going-to-launch-you-into-something-great-so-just-focus-and-keep-aiming-p/" target="_blank">Paulo Coelho</a> that really hit home for me: "An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming."</p>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-79927599893742828732023-06-18T22:38:00.001+02:002023-06-18T22:38:43.743+02:00AgileTD Open Air 2023 - Welcome to Unicorn Beach<p>It's been my second time to the <a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">AgileTD Open Air</a>, the beach edition of the <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a>. I'm really not an outdoor person, yet once again I thoroughly enjoyed this event.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Monday</h2><p>Directly when arriving in Cologne, it felt like coming home when spotting first folks in the hotel. After initial conversations with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-k%C3%BCster-1901b4149/" target="_blank">Sophie Küster</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/micha-kutz/" target="_blank">Micha Kutz</a>, and yet another practice session for my new talk, it was time to go for speakers dinner. Food and company were amazing and I enjoyed our table conversations. I finally had a chance to speak with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tariqking/" target="_blank">Tariq King</a> and his wife - loved it! We got into deeper discussions around certifications and whether they make sense or not. We had fun laughing about past conference stories (anyone remember "table 2"?). We celebrated new speakers at the table, like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mazininaad/" target="_blank">Mazin Inaad</a> who decided to start conference speaking at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer Mamoojee</a>'s and my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2018/12/agile-testing-days-2018-wonderful-unicorn-season.html" target="_blank">learning partner workshop</a> back in 2018! So proud. We got drawn into the "pen game" to practice our observation and critical thinking skills - ask me about it in person, I won't spoil it here. We had deep meaningful conversations about life struggles; I just love how communities like these support each other all the way. And so much more. Many thanks also to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/friendlytester/" target="_blank">Richard Bradshaw</a>, <a href="https://mastodon.social/@zebulon@mas.to" target="_blank">Zeb Ford-Reitz</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-j-holland/" target="_blank">Paul Holland</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pvanenkhuijzen/" target="_blank">Patrick Van Enkhuijzen</a> - it was a brilliant evening!</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Speaker Dinner Night... Table #2... <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDOpenAir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/ekIYCQ5vlu">https://t.co/ekIYCQ5vlu</a></p>— Tariq M. King (@tariq_king) <a href="https://twitter.com/tariq_king/status/1669104450374336513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">It’s Speakers Dinner time! Let’s officially open the second edition of our <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> Open Air! See you all tomorrow 🦄❤️<a href="https://twitter.com/janetgregoryca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@janetgregoryca</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/tariq_king?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tariq_king</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jrosaproenca</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PvanEnkhuijzen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PvanEnkhuijzen</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FriendlyTester?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FriendlyTester</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MlleSophiePofie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MlleSophiePofie</a> <a href="https://t.co/Z1ftwFplO7">pic.twitter.com/Z1ftwFplO7</a></p>— AgileTD Zone (@AgileTDZone) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDZone/status/1668306808908263446?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Tuesday</h2><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/micha-kutz/" target="_blank">Micha Kutz</a> invited a bunch of us to go sightseeing together before the conference officially started. Who can say no to that? Also, a great opportunity to re-connect with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-reid-21198a69/" target="_blank">Heather Reid</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-desby-qatest/" target="_blank">Steph Desby</a>! We really enjoyed our time discovering Cologne.</p><p>Then it was time, the conference was about to be kicked off. We took the bus to the event location Blackfoot Beach and had sufficient time to meet folks before the official opening.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Keynote "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/invasion-of-the-gummy-bears-fighting-back/" target="_blank">Invasion of the Gummy Bears: Fighting Bac</a>k" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetgregory" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a>. This was a great opening keynote on a very important topic. I loved the angle on it and can relate so much personally. It once again reminded me about all the coping mechanisms I already make use of, and provided me more ideas of what else to try. Finally, it provided an additional nudge to get out of my mental fatigue - easier said than done, yet I'm on it.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110561305601522467/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>Bonus session "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/puzzle-your-way-to-group-success/" target="_blank">Puzzle your way to group success</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pvanenkhuijzen/" target="_blank">Patrick Van Enkhuijzen</a>. I just loved this session! Each of us had been given one or two pictures that only we were allowed to see and not show anyone. We were tasked to figure out the pattern in order to place all images in one order - just by speaking with each other. What a great exercise in communication and collaboration. I'm amazed it worked out so well, too! This gave a lot of food for thought to reflect on.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">What’s happening? It’s Puzzle your way to success time with our amazing Patrick! <a href="https://t.co/EeRaOA3ypC">pic.twitter.com/EeRaOA3ypC</a></p>— AgileTD Zone (@AgileTDZone) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDZone/status/1668679341763428353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul><div>Dinner at the beach was great and the evening flew by. Special shoutout to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-kalmes-375884b7/" target="_blank">Marc Kalmes</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ada-pohl/" target="_blank">Ada Pohl</a> for insightful conversations!</div><p></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Wednesday</h2><p>Originally, I wanted to start the conference day with a lean coffee session, as I often do. I had some topics in mind to bring, and looked forward to the evolving conversations. Well, it didn't work out as planned and I missed the first bus that would have gotten me to the venue in time. Guess I should have used that time for extra sleep, yet it was how it was.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Key-speech "Visibility of Testers" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/huibschoots/" target="_blank">Huib Schoots</a>. It's a recurring topic that people dedicated to testing and quality are asked to justify their position and demonstrate their value-add. Yet I've seen the same apply to other roles as well, so making our contribution and impact visible is a topic for everyone. Transparency indeed often helps to do a better job, not only because it helps the team work closer together, yet also because you need to spend less headspace on justifying your value that you can use to deliver value instead.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110561305878028656/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/cross-team-ensembling/" target="_blank">Cross Team Ensembling</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-rucinski/" target="_blank">Christian Rucinski</a> and <a href="https://mastodon.social/@zebulon@mas.to" target="_blank">Zeb Ford-Reitz</a>. This topic is very dear to my heart and I hope more people get to hear about it. I loved this talk as it was an experience report, and the angle of cross-team collaboration gives yet another perspective how working as an ensemble can be valuable. I hope people got inspired to give this a try!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110561306055968526/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/the-8-commendments-for-maintainable-test-automation/" target="_blank">The 8 ‘Commendments’ for Maintainable Test Automation</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mazininaad/" target="_blank">Mazin Inaad</a>. Can't believe Mazin just started out speaking at conferences - he delivered well! I believe also in 2023 more testers need to hear the presented "commendments" (a word play between recommendations and commandments), especially when automating tests through the whole tech stack. I really liked how he pointed out that this is not carved in stone as things depend on context - while still providing very tangible and actionable advice including examples.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110561306323017747/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/data-driven-decisions-in-testing/" target="_blank">Data Driven Decisions in Testing</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-reid-21198a69/" target="_blank">Heather Reid</a>. This talk was awesome, Heather rocked it. We really need to be advocating for using more data at any time for making more informed decisions - real data can indeed be a super power to bring to the table. Loved all the stories that made this talk very tangible!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110561306753190527/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/team-transformation-tactics-for-holistic-testing-and-quality/" target="_blank">Team Transformation Tactics for Holistic Testing and Quality</a>" by me. This is the third time I gave this brand-new talk and I felt I had practiced it well. Yet once again, real life situations differ! I was struggling a bit to find my rhythm and took more time than expected. I felt drained afterwards and wasn't sure if the message came across. Therefore, I was even more grateful when a bunch of people came to me afterwards and told me what they got out of it! Really, if you've been listening to a talk and it was helpful for you, please go and tell the speaker - we dearly need this feedback.
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</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/combining-force-multipliers-to-improve-quality/" target="_blank">Combining Force Multipliers to Improve Quality</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tariqking/" target="_blank">Tariq King</a>. Just loved the emphasis on force multipliers, how they could be applied and combined! Great examples, too. Especially appreciated that Tariq emphasized how culture is a big multiplier in itself. I totally relate to this, have seen it over and over again. Quite some food for thought in this keynote!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110561307182471909/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li><li>Bonus session "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/code-reading-club-session-at-the-beach/" target="_blank">Code Reading Club Session at the Beach</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-nitsche-457ba3158/" target="_blank">Samuel Nitsche</a>. I am part of a regular <a href="https://codereading.club/" target="_blank">code reading club</a> together with Sam and a bunch of other awesome folks, and I couldn't resist this opportunity for additional practice. I also always felt the testing community needs more of this - so I can only encourage folks to seize the opportunity when it presents itself. This was an amazing session indeed, it fully re-energized me. The whole group practiced together and the resulting exchange was really insightful.
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</li><li>Bonus session "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/smoke-tests-mirrors/" target="_blank">Smoke Tests & Mirrors</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-bischoff/" target="_blank">Benjamin Bischoff</a>. What a magical session - literally! Just loved the combination of Benjamin doing a really awesome magic show (despite very tricky stage conditions for magicians) and showing how magic principles relate (or not) with principles in testing. Both educational and entertaining!</li></ul><div>Wonderful conversations throughout the day just happened. Like with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanscheidt/" target="_blank">Stefan Scheidt</a> on why we both love Star Trek and how it relates to our work in tech teams. Or with <a href="https://mastodon.social/@shadowspar@ottawa.place" target="_blank">Rick Scott</a>, whom I ended up sitting next to in talks a lot which enabled us to instantly exchange thoughts! Or with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-nitsche-457ba3158/" target="_blank">Sam</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrijelahladnik/" target="_blank">Gabrijela Hladnik</a> talking about getting closer to other communities like the domain-driven design (DDD) or software crafter communities. Or with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/moraimondo/" target="_blank">Maria Olga Raimondo</a> about our origin stories; there are so many amazing ways to end up in tech and excel there. I loved the experience people bring in who don't take the straight way.</div><div><br /></div><div>The conference day concluded with a party with a live band made out of a bunch of speakers and friends! Loved it. Loved the more quiet and private conversations afterwards even more. Like with my dear friends <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/annecolder/" target="_blank">Anne Colder</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentwijnen/" target="_blank">Vincent Wijnen</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a>! One main insight was again that we can learn a lot of things. Everyone has a different learning curve and time when we plateau, though. Yet one thing is for sure, without practicing no one gets far. Behind skill there's usually a lot of practice and effort. </div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">This is Love! <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jrosaproenca</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alex_schl</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDZone?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDZone</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/vp1XVpOw5V">pic.twitter.com/vp1XVpOw5V</a></p>— José Díaz (@jdiaz_berlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/jdiaz_berlin/status/1669065410484772879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<div><br /></div><div>At first glance, the program didn't seem too full that day, yet the day was over again very quickly being filled to the rim with awesome experiences.</div><p></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Thursday</h2><p>Second day, second chance to get to lean coffee! Or not. My body already complained about lack of sleep, so it was rather not.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Key-speech "How do we stay relevant?" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-j-holland/" target="_blank">Paul Holland</a>. Paul reconnected this back to Huib's key-speech by sharing that if we're adding value yet aren't visible we might not stay relevant. Paul encouraged people to stop doing what automation can do, and instead start doing what only a human can do. This triggered a great conversation over lunch on which skills and behavior we assume will still continue to be relevant and which not.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110561307552391871/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li><li>Workshop "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/lets-get-into-coding/" target="_blank">Let’s Get Into Coding</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanscheidt/" target="_blank">Stefan Scheidt</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/micha-kutz/" target="_blank">Micha Kutz</a>. While this was targeted at beginners, I made it a point for myself to catch as many hands-on coding sessions as I can, as usually I can always practice no matter the overall level. And I was not disappointed! I loved the setup and instructions provided, especially that it was close to real-life situations and that struggling through while also supporting each other and receiving support was an integral part of it. This made it not only very authentic yet also encouraging to go further and learn more - together.</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/what-i-thought-i-knew-about-the-status-of-testing/" target="_blank">What I thought I knew about the status of testing</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-pejgan-nystrom/" target="_blank">Lena Nyström</a>. I loved hearing all the misconceptions Lena had been holding or overheard in the past, and what she learned instead throughout her career. Awesome and authentic storytelling, very relatable, and I totally agreed with the provided advice. And hearing Lena say "I'm priceless because I care" really got to me, it's exactly feedback I recently received from a developer teammate (so I'm clearly biased), yet I truly believe people have to hear this more to make better career decisions.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110561308088716325/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li><li>Workshop "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/ensemble-exploratory-testing/" target="_blank">Ensemble Exploratory Testing</a>" by me. I've given this workshop over and over again and it doesn't get boring yet for me or the participants from what I can tell. Most often, people have never had the opportunity to try any of the included components. Seems they also had a great time and took value out of it! What else can I want.</li><li>Bonus session "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/bug-hunting-explored/" target="_blank">Bug Hunting - Explored</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pvanenkhuijzen/" target="_blank">Patrick Van Enkhuijzen</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarno-l-11b478200/" target="_blank">Jarno Lapere</a>. This session was a perfect segue from my own workshop as we again explored in ensembles - and this time I had the opportunity to practice as well. It was great to learn about what's important for facilitating bug hunts, and then instantly experience one ourselves. It was especially awesome that we tested a real product so we could also provide real value. It worked really well to find a lot of issues in short time. This session was both educational and really fun. The chocolate prizes were much appreciated as well, especially as my group shared the first place with another group. :D</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2023/session/knowledge-gaps-and-the-quest-for-rapid-feedback-loops/" target="_blank">Knowledge Gaps and the Quest For Rapid Feedback Loops</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/friendlytester/" target="_blank">Richard Bradshaw</a>. I really liked Richard's angle on thinking in gaps together with feedback loops, encouraging people to spot gaps and fill them quickly. I really think this is so at the core of what we're doing and trying to achieve in teams, and that more people need to hear about that. Richard provided actionable ideas how to implement this, so people could start doing so right away. The delivery was also very entertaining! Perfect to close this conference.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110561308458904017/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li></ul><div>Another live band played, even more conversations were to be had. One person really made my day sharing how they love my blog (I'm feeling honored they really go through these lengthy writings!) and that especially my post "<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2020/09/i-am-white.html" target="_blank">I Am white</a>" was very impactful on them, letting them dig into resources and start changing behavior. Just wow.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">And the party begins. Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDZone?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDZone</a>! Such an awesome conference 💜 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/lOaSpfCqgO">pic.twitter.com/lOaSpfCqgO</a></p>— Marie Cruz 🇵🇭 (@mcruzdrake) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcruzdrake/status/1669424003499405312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<div>Saying goodbye is always hard and people didn't want to let go until the last bit - me included.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">It's <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> and Marc! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/LrQwGMRdbU">pic.twitter.com/LrQwGMRdbU</a></p>— Richard Bradshaw 🇺🇦 (@FriendlyTester) <a href="https://twitter.com/FriendlyTester/status/1669463666482196486?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Friday</h2><p></p><p>The day of going home had come. I took the opportunity to meet up with one more community friend who happened to be in the city: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janina-nemec-39875316a/" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a>. It was lovely to catch up before each of us headed home.</p><p>Returning from a conference like this usually needs me to sit and digest what I heard and what I learned, the conversations we had and the thoughts they inspired. I'm sad for the people I've missed to re-connect with more deeply, I'm glad for those I had the opportunity to do so, and I enjoyed getting to know all the new folks I had not met before.</p><p>I'm grateful to have been in such good company for the last days, people that we can have deep meaningful conversations with each other. I'm grateful for all the inspirational experience exchange. I'm grateful for practicing together for our personal growth. Looking back over the last years, I've been growing with every conference I've been at. I hope more people can make this experience as well, so I will continue paying it forward.</p>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-16600365419832022392023-05-30T00:25:00.003+02:002023-05-30T10:07:15.971+02:00Agile Testing Days USA 2023 - A Lot to Think About<p>Last year's <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/06/agile-testing-days-use-2022-a-wealth-of-inspiration.html" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days USA was full of inspiration</a>. This year, this conference and its community once again gave me a lot to think about.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Before the Conference</h2><div>Arriving early, I had time to do a bit of sightseeing next to finalizing the preparation for my two sessions. I decided to take it slow and preserve my energy while still checking out some places I haven't seen yet.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another benefit of being there ahead of time is to connect with people already before a conference starts and slowly getting into networking and exchanging experiences. So good to see familiar faces again and re-connect - like with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsey-schoen-a93923193/" target="_blank">Kelsey Schoen</a> whom I met last year. On the evening before the conference started, we had a lovely dinner group which resulted in great conversations. Many thanks to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbcharlton/" target="_blank">Jenna Charlton</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennybramble/" target="_blank">Jenny Bramble</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-j-holland/" target="_blank">Paul Holland</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikld/" target="_blank">Erik Davis</a>!</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Tutorial Day</h2><div>A dream came true for me: I finally could meet <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/testobsessed/" target="_blank">Elisabeth Hendrickson</a> in person! She's one of my personal heroes in tech. I followed her and her work for a long time via social media and was eager to learn from her in person. So when I realized she'll be at this conference and also give a tutorial, I didn't hesitate once to sign up for it. Especially as it perfectly fit my situation: "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/doing-the-hard-stuff/" target="_blank">Doing the Hard Stuff</a>".</div><div><br /></div><div>This tutorial was indeed worth it already. It was awesome. I had hoped to get insights and advice for current difficult leadership situations as well as guiding principles for those still to come and I was not disappointed. Elisabeth shared a toolkit of the wisdom she collected over years working with teams and organizations - a toolkit full of wealth of applicable wisdom. Super interesting on a meta level as well, as I am sharing some of my own tactics in my latest talk.</div><div><br /></div><div>We had a small group with high safety where we could bring our current challenges, think openly together about them using the toolkit, and discuss options to move forward. The self-organized structure of the tutorial made me think of an all-day themed lean coffee session with lots of dedicated time for each topic - wonderful to get detailed thoughts and feedback from everyone, and also be able to contribute! One of my topics got discussed into detail as well and I received lots of input and ideas what to try next - along with validation of my own stance and connecting the dots on what I already knew. Invaluable.</div><div><br /></div><div>At some point, I really wondered about my own confirmation bias - as I kept nodding throughout. I really related to the toolkit topics shared. Was it because I learned and adapted a lot from Elisabeth and her peers already over the years, or were they really reflected in my own experience? Well, probably a bit of both. Anyways, it was amazing to see lots of the ideas and approaches I had used in my past being validated and built on by a group of peers.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's a lot to ponder about and make use of. I'm really grateful for having had the chance to participate, I took a lot with me. I bet more people would benefit from this content, it actually would make a great book.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Every technical problem is, at its core, a people problem. With her tutorial, <a href="https://twitter.com/testobsessed?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@testobsessed</a> is giving us insights on how to do the Hard Stuff 🦄<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA2023?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA2023</a> <a href="https://t.co/UDd58u6mpt">pic.twitter.com/UDd58u6mpt</a></p>— AgileTD Zone (@AgileTDZone) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDZone/status/1660729336360476673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><div>Right after the tutorial, it was time to get together with everyone and mingle for a "Meet the Speakers" event. This meant new people to get to know and connect with! A curious side note was when one person mentioned that they thought speakers would get formally introduced, and then being pleasantly surprised they're already among the crowd - being just normal humans as everyone else.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, it was time for speakers dinner. My opportunity to connect with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-lazarz-23764115/" target="_blank">Allison Lazarz</a> and catch up with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lrosocha/" target="_blank">Larissa Rosochansky</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelncintra/" target="_blank">Rafael Cintra</a>!</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Conference Day 1</h2><div>The first full day of talks and workshops for everyone was full of interesting sessions. Here are the ones that I joined.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/early-morning-lean-coffee/" target="_blank">Early Morning Lean Coffee</a> with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetgregory/" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-crispin-88420a/" target="_blank">Lisa Crispin</a>. I make it a point to go to at least one lean coffee session per conference whenever offered. Whoever shows up are the right people and whatever topic is discussed, I gain insight from it! If I'm lucky, my own topics are selected and people's thinking help me move forward with a challenge. Like this time - I'm grateful for the input received. Many thanks to Janet and Lisa for facilitating these sessions and for doing it so welcomingly!<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Lean Coffee underway at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a>! 🦄🎉 <a href="https://t.co/V475QxZUQ7">pic.twitter.com/V475QxZUQ7</a></p>— lisacrispin @lisacrispin@mastodon.social (@lisacrispin) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisacrispin/status/1660999051410636800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/imperfect-agile/" target="_blank">Imperfect Agile</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbcharlton/" target="_blank">Jenna Charlton</a>. What a great opening keynote reminding all of us to remember self-care and keep our own boundaries, while also encouraging to resolve conflict in a timely manner and find closure instead of piling onto existing grudges - and emphasizing that impact is more important than intent. All that while following the story of figuring out what agile actually means. Just loved the conclusion of "Take what works, leave what doesn't, don't do harm - it works for us is enough"!
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</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/keynote-erika-chestnut-bigger-than-the-box/" target="_blank">Bigger than the Box</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikachestnut/" target="_blank">Erika Chestnut</a>. Great keynote emphasizing that testing is not all the work even though people try to keep us in the box. Loved that Erika showed ways how we can claim the power in what we do, seize the opportunities around us and let quality shine in a new light together with everyone. Very important messages.
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</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/stop-making-qa-the-last-train-stop-before-production/" target="_blank">Stop Making QA The Last Train Stop Before Production</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/clymerrm/" target="_blank">Rick Clymer</a>. Really related to this talk and think more people need to hear it. I witnessed so many folks being stuck in what they do. This talk showed very concrete and actionable things they could do to get out of their situation and not only provide more value yet also get more value out of their work themselves.
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</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/business-agility-lab-2/" target="_blank">Business Agility Lab</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayarell/" target="_blank">Ray Arell</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhea-stadick-44655a3/" target="_blank">Rhea Stadick</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobeyaumann/" target="_blank">Tobey Aumann</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/socullinan/" target="_blank">Shawna Cullinan</a>. This was a positive surprise! I didn't expect much and came to the session as a mere filler. And received a nice hands-on introduction to <a href="https://learnwardleymapping.com/" target="_blank">Wardley mapping</a>, a topic I would have chosen if it had been offered in the program! Loved the examples Tobey provided and the opportunity to try it ourselves. Wasn't too easy to get started with, yet understanding grew the more we tried it.</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/focus-deliver-learn-repeat/" target="_blank">Focus. Deliver. Learn. Repeat.</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/testobsessed/" target="_blank">Elisabeth Hendrickson</a>. What an amazing keynote. Just kept nodding throughout, so many excellent points made! Sadly, this could have been given twenty years ago already, and maybe was. Why haven't we learned this in the meantime? Overall, this was a dearly needed reminder to focus back on XP principles, including the reasoning why. Delivered in a wonderful energetic and authentic way.
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</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;">My own session on this day was my workshop "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/grow-your-technical-confidence/" target="_blank">Grow Your Technical Confidence</a>". I had a small but great group, learning together. It's always fascinating to see people dare to try something new and potentially scary, and then have them figure out what they already know about it and that they can already contribute - hence increasing their confidence for the next step once again.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Shift your perception and focus on learning - enjoy your journey of becoming technically confident with <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> workshop 🦄<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/YdRoJtnsPO">pic.twitter.com/YdRoJtnsPO</a></p>— AgileTD Zone (@AgileTDZone) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDZone/status/1661048330238017548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To conclude the day, organizers invited everyone to an Oktoberfest party! Loved the conversations with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mleaden/" target="_blank">Melissa Eaden</a>, it's such a pleasure to reconnect with folks I haven't met for a while. More exchange followed with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayarell/" target="_blank">Ray Arell</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobeyaumann/" target="_blank">Tobey Aumann</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/petergwalen/" target="_blank">Pete Walen</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarawalton/" target="_blank">Tara Walton</a> and others before the evening came to an end.</div><div><br /></div><div><h2>Conference Day 2</h2></div><div>The last day of the conference provided further insights and even more to ponder about. Here are the sessions I listened to.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/where-is-testing-heading/" target="_blank">Where is testing heading?</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-j-holland/" target="_blank">Paul Holland</a>. This keynote provided a reminder on bad trends in testing, historically and current, along with their reasoning. So what can testers do nowadays? Paul recommended to focus on what automation cannot do well, and make use of the tools at hand.
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</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/the-dark-side-of-agile-implementation/" target="_blank">The dark side of agile implementation</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/zsquare/" target="_blank">Lisette Zounon</a>. Just loved the focus on how culture is essential whether people can thrive or literally end up in the emergency room. The audience interaction to openly think about warning signs and anti-patterns was a nice addition. It was quite sad to see how many folks seemed to have endured rather toxic cultures. Yet what makes us succeed is team happiness! Loved the emphasis on taking care of ourselves and practicing self-care - dearly needed that reminder.
<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110434503171628139/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/mobile-app-testing-sucks-heres-how-to-do-it-better/" target="_blank">Mobile app testing sucks. Here's how to do it better.</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/edenfull/" target="_blank">Eden Full Goh</a>. This talk provided lots of insights on what we're usually missing when testing mobile apps. Loved all the examples of new features, device configuration settings, and more things that are too often not considered - especially when it comes to automation. Very tangible and practical advice and new ideas how to test better on mobile, both on exploring more and finding new ways to automate user interactions.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110434503383109130/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/the-why-you-are/" target="_blank">The WHY you are!</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drrochellecarr/" target="_blank">Dr. Rochelle Carr</a>. What an amazing keynote in content and delivery. Loved Dr. Rochelle Carr's abundant energy on stage and refined skills to truly engage the audience with the content shared! The messages themselves - they hit home. More than I expected to, this keynote gave me lots to think about my own why and purpose, what drives me - and how it changed over time. Very impactful.
<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110434503925875873/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/how-were-setting-up-qes-to-fail/" target="_blank">How we're setting up QE's to fail</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernonrichards/" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a>. This talk opened my eyes that should have already been open. I knew about glue work, and I knew about quiet quitting. Yet Vernon made the connection to where testers often find themselves, and that all of our work is indeed technical leadership - whew, that blew my mind. I think I heard this message before, yet this talk delivered it to me just at the right time to truly understand it. Gave me a lot to think about!
<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110434504150417399/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/building-a-culture-of-accessible-software/" target="_blank">Building a Culture of Accessible Software</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondhussey/" target="_blank">Jon Hussey</a>. This talk provided a lot of actionable advice on how to increase awareness about accessibility, a topic that is very relevant to me right now. I loved how Jon connected this to his own story, what he tried, what didn't work and what did. His one request was for each and everyone of us to ask for more accessibility - something we all can do. A very important topic we all need to hear more of!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110434504387558376/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe></li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/feedback-techniques-for-transparent-teams/" target="_blank">Feedback Techniques for Transparent Teams</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dee-ann-b-81745a4/" target="_blank">Dee Ann Bernau</a>. We all need to learn how to receive and give better feedback as it's essential for learning. This talk gave models to help our thinking about feedback as well as tangible steps to take and improve on feedback ourselves. One point caught my eye that I would have loved to hear more about: Creating a system to call out bad behavior in your team. More to think about.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110434504622426288/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/the-secret-to-my-success/" target="_blank">The Secret To My Success</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mleaden/" target="_blank">Melissa Eaden</a>. This keynote was amazingly brave. Mel shared her personal story on stage which allowed me to realize how many more people are affected by trauma and systemic issues than we might realize from just seeing the "successful" facade. Really appreciate the reframing of what success means for us and finding our own definition of what to work toward. Loved the emphasis on how giving someone a chance can have a life-changing and even life-saving impact on them, and how especially tech can lift people out of a situation they would not have gotten out otherwise. As well as asking for an outside observer view! One more argument to indeed get coaching, or therapy, or both. I admire Mel for her vulnerability and I hope this talk helps more people on their journey towards more good than bad days. It definitely had impact on me, I have lots to think about.
<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110436192111671592/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li></ul></div><div>On this day, I gave my brand-new talk "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/2023/session/team-transformation-tactics-for-holistic-testing-and-quality/" target="_blank">Team Transformation Tactics for Holistic Testing and Quality</a>" for the first time live on stage - in its most condensed short form. According to feedback it seems people got something out of it to take with them, what more can I want?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> sharing that while implementing holistic testing for team transformations can take longer than expected, the benefits are worth the journey. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/eHr5rH8ka3">pic.twitter.com/eHr5rH8ka3</a></p>— Tristan Lombard 🇺🇦 (@TristanLombard2) <a href="https://twitter.com/TristanLombard2/status/1661421301267824644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Share access, share knowledge, share pain, share glue work, and share the credit. <br />- <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> <br /><br />Step by step tips on team transformation.. amazing 😍<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/NNOmKjqVCn">pic.twitter.com/NNOmKjqVCn</a></p>— Tara (she/her) (@TaraWithTiaras) <a href="https://twitter.com/TaraWithTiaras/status/1661425024580845616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110424915479387773/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div><div>A great bonus this day: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ash-coleman/" target="_blank">Ash Coleman</a> was in town and stopped by to say hi! Such a pleasant surprise, was so good to see her again, even if only for a few minutes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">When you accidentally crash a testing conference and run into all of your friends! 🤩🤩🤩 <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDUSA</a> 🦄 <a href="https://twitter.com/heather_reiduff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@heather_reiduff</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/theBConnolly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@theBConnolly</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/elmoray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elmoray</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/testobsessed?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@testobsessed</a> <a href="https://t.co/ouI6PCGIHo">pic.twitter.com/ouI6PCGIHo</a></p>— Ash Coleman (she/they) (@AshColeman30) <a href="https://twitter.com/AshColeman30/status/1661446833258807296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><div>Right after the conference ended, the social closure began with food, games and even more conversations. I joined a great dinner group with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mleaden/" target="_blank">Melissa Eaden</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbcharlton/" target="_blank">Jenna Charlton</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennybramble/" target="_blank">Jenny Bramble</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarawalton/" target="_blank">Tara Walton</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernonrichards/" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristanlombard/" target="_blank">Tristan Lombard</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I've been kidnapped for dinner (And dessert)! <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/melthetechie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@melthetechie</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TesterFromLeic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jennydoesthings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jennydoesthings</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TristanLombard2?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TristanLombard2</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TheyWrestleTest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheyWrestleTest</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jrosaproenca</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fieldTrip?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fieldTrip</a> <a href="https://t.co/WvNf7fVhMH">pic.twitter.com/WvNf7fVhMH</a></p>— Tara (she/her) (@TaraWithTiaras) <a href="https://twitter.com/TaraWithTiaras/status/1661545081487208451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><div>Afterwards I ended up in storytelling conversations with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/testobsessed/" target="_blank">Elisabeth Hendrickson</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayarell/" target="_blank">Ray Arell</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirtikadhathathri/" target="_blank">Kirtika Dhathathri</a>. Really loved the chance to talk with Elisabeth once more - I really appreciate her for being so approachable, with people all the time and so authentic - very appreciated and amazing to see.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Post-Conference</h2><div>After a conference is over means the start of digesting everything. There's overcoming the post-conference blues of having had to say goodbye again to many dear people, there's follow-up to process all the gained insights and notes and everything, and there's rest to catch up with. And some more sightseeing to do to make best use of the efforts of traveling!</div><div><br /></div><div>Once more I realized how much time and effort the conference follow-up tasks that I do take. This made me think about what I could cut down to make it less burdensome and tedious, and grant more capacity to work on other opportunities. One particular task stood out for me: processing my sketchnotes. Not only do they eat up a lot of energy to take during the talks, I also spend lots of time to take good enough photos of them, then transcribe them to get good enough alt texts for increased accessibility (kudos to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecakelin/" target="_blank">Cakelin (Kaitlin) Marquardt</a> for <a href="https://twitter.com/thecakelin/status/1642305742181892098?s=20" target="_blank">demonstrating how to write alt texts for sketchnotes</a>!), then to create threads with the sessions and alt texts on both Twitter and Mastodon. Phew. Lots of time and energy goes into all that and it's often exhausting to do after a conference when I am tired anyway. I realized that nowadays sketchnotes don't save me time anymore, which was <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2018/09/testbash-germany-2018-my-first-attempt-in-sketchnoting.html" target="_blank">the very reason I started sketchnoting</a> in the first place. So I felt maybe it's time again to for the next experiment to find a more effective way to take and share notes. And guess what? Shortly after considering that, I received abundant positive and grateful feedback on my sketchnotes, including personal messages on how impactful they are and suggestions that I could even make a book out of them. I'm feeling honored! At the same time, I guess I have to really think about how to best move forward from here.</div><div><br /></div><div>In any case, I was leaving yet another <a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days USA</a> with a full heart and mind, lots of insights to ponder upon and ideas to try next. Many thanks to organizers and volunteers for creating this space and making this edition run so smooth, and to my fellow speakers and participants for learning so openly together. Now I have a lot to think about.</div>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-32578325896898904132023-04-04T01:57:00.006+02:002023-04-04T02:01:32.469+02:00Booster Conference 2023 - Changing Perspectives<p>A new conference to experience, a new community to engage with, and a new country to explore - <a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/" target="_blank">Booster Conference</a> offered me a great time in Bergen, Norway. I've overheard lots of people share great things about this conference, so I was very happy I got accepted. Did not regret it one bit! This was another conference to help change perspectives in lots of different ways.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Day Before</h2><div>Whenever possible, I try to arrive in time to meet other people already ahead of the conference. More often than not, we can go for dinner or drinks together and these initial conversations provide the first insights already. It also eases me into the conference and allows me to brace myself upfront of meeting so many people. This time, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezagroba/" target="_blank">Elizabeth Zagroba</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joepschuurkes/" target="_blank">Joep Schuurkes</a> were already there, and we had a lovely dinner together. As a nice surprise, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a> made it to Bergen as well in time and joined us. Lots of catching up to do with these familiar folks! Speaking about new roles, new companies, and new challenges. Such a good start into this conference and the conference season for 2023.</div><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The First Conference Day</h2><div>Entering the venue for the first time, I saw so many people I haven't met yet - perfect condition for making new connections! That most conversations I overheard were in Norwegian, however, was of little help. I had to put in active effort to break into existing circles and start getting to know people. Required more energy, yet it worked and people responded very friendly. I've also met <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/micha-kutz/" target="_blank">Micha Kutz</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/markustacker/" target="_blank">Markus Tacker</a> again! Lovely to catch up and exchange news.</div><p></p><p>The conference kicked off and a few things already made a good impression in the first hours. Great venue for people to have proper space and nice equipment. The schedule contained sufficiently long and frequent breaks. Such a relief not to have to rush from session to session and hope to cater to biological needs in between, yet also have proper time to have an actual conversation with people. Organizers also had a chillout area reserved for everyone who needed a private break. And last but not least: Booster offered both a barista and a tea afficionado who provided wonderful high-quality drinks. Adding great food and snacks to it, and you have a great foundation to make this work. </p><p>The speakers didn't disappoint either. Here are the sessions I joined on this day. By the way, all talks had been recorded and you can find the videos next to the session description in the program, linked in the following.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Keynote "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/wednesday/3_keynote/why-breed-faster-horses-when-you-can-make-cars/" target="_blank">Why breed faster horses when you can make cars?</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/annelandro/" target="_blank">Anne Landro</a>. Great talk demonstrating us how much we are missing when only talking to our users, especially if these are not our actual users. Even then, it's hard for people to share very openly, without omitting information that's obvious to them yet might not be known to us. And what they ask for is not always (or rather usually) what they actually need. So we need further methods to dig deeper and find out the real problem so we can figure out a real solution. Very insightful keynote! <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110125445723119991/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>Lightning talk "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/wednesday/5_lightning_talks/kongesal_4/147-have-no-fear-the-security-guild-is-here/" target="_blank">Have no fear, the security guild is here!</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/karinahaugen/" target="_blank">Karina Øverland Haugen</a>. A security guild is often formed by representatives of all teams. It's there to help everyone focus on security. Yet how to do that? Karina shared what they tried at their company, like granting dedicated time for security champions, and where they are now with the guild. One thing is clear for them, the endeavor already paid off and knowledge got spread across teams.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110125445990542371/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>Lightning talk "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/wednesday/5_lightning_talks/kongesal_2_3/15-recovering-from-technical-bankruptcy-ensemble-style/" target="_blank">Recovering from technical bankruptcy - ensemble style</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kjerstibb/" target="_blank">Kjersti Berg</a>. I loved Kjersti's story of her team finding their way to working together as a whole team. Yet they needed to feel the pain first: they experienced not only technical debt, yet technical bankruptcy. Huge maintenance load and context loss basically hindered them from getting any further product change out of the door. To get out of this situation, they started working as an ensemble, everyone together on the same thing, same place, same time, same computer. This fostered system understanding, knowledge sharing and decision making, and enabled them to get out of their situation - with a way happier team. Loved that Kjersti also pointed out all the other ensemble related sessions at the conference, like mine!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110125446281066451/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li><li>Lightning talk "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/wednesday/7_lightning_talks/kongesal_2_3/254-a-brief-history-of-simula/" target="_blank">A brief history of Simula</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mortenaa/" target="_blank">Morten Nygaard Åsnes</a>. This was a nicely condensed history lesson on the background of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simula" target="_blank">Simula</a>, a simulation language created by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristen_Nygaard" target="_blank">Kristen Nygaard</a>. With the first version gaining popularity in academia, he wondered if they could make this a generic purpose language - and it worked. Although Simula didn't evolve further in the end, it still influenced lots of languages and was fundamental for object-oriented languages.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110125446604554296/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>Lightning talk "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/wednesday/7_lightning_talks/kongesal_2_3/136-internal-tech-talks-how-to-motivate-everyone-to-share-their-knowledge/" target="_blank">Internal tech talks: How to motivate everyone to share their knowledge</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stig-nielsen-92b2b9/" target="_blank">Stig Nielsen</a>. Do you relate with this topic as much as I do? Stig figured that in order to make internal knowledge sharing a success, you need a dedicated person taking care and setting the environment. It also didn't go without constant nudging! One big factor that keeps people from sharing is the belief that you needed to be an expert to share knowledge, and hence people lacked confidence. In the end, offering different formats, building in preparation time and feedback, as well as appreciation and praise all went a long way. <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110125446911656504/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>Lightning talk "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/wednesday/7_lightning_talks/kongesal_1/268-looking-ahead-to-wcag-and/" target="_blank">Looking ahead to WCAG 2.2 … and 3.0?</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vegardh/" target="_blank">Vegard Haugstvedt</a>. The lightning talk format doesn't grant much time for this run-through to cover the latest changes in the <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/" target="_blank">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) international standard</a>. Still, we got a first impression of what's new and what to look into further. A curious one to me was the requirement "focus not obscured": when a component is visible it should not be hidden - I assumed this goes without saying, yet this is only required by the AAA standard, for AA it could still be partially hidden. And it was good to see the requirement "accessible authentication" suggesting to use magic links, allow password managers, and allow copy and paste for authentication related fields. Big win for security for everyone! Because if security practices are not accessible or too inconvenient, they can be as recommended as they want, people just won't adopt them.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110125447249113589/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>In the afternoon it was time for my own workshop, "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/wednesday/9_short_talks_and_workshops/dr%C3%A6ggen_7/70-ensemble-exploratory-testing/" target="_blank">Ensemble Exploratory Testing</a>". I've given this workshop many times already, and yet the experience and outcome differs with every group. The session concept is kept quite simple in order to give people the opportunity to experience both working in an ensemble as well as exploration, and practice together hands-on. I always aim to showcase how much you can learn in short time, while it differs what everybody learns in specific. This time I had another great bunch of folks, split in four ensembles, and each of them quickly evolving their own style. This session quickly uncovers all the different perspectives and experiences people bring and fosters finding common ground. I had a great time observing and encouraging, nudging and supporting. Seems participants enjoyed it as well, based on the positive feedback received. As a bonus, I received some lovely Norwegian chocolate as speaker gift! What a great gesture.</li><li>Time for a fishbowl session. This format is basically a panel with changing participants. It starts with having a few people on stage, getting a topic kicked off. If at any time any person in the audience wants to contribute, they are welcome to come on stage and take a seat, while another one leaves so there is always a free spot to take. This creates an interesting dynamic and great conversations can pan out. For this specific fishbowl, organizers had collected a bunch of controversial opinions and statements from the audience upfront - in an actual fishbowl to draw from! In the beginning, the conversation started light-heartedly yet then turned towards deeper topics like psychological safety that unveiled great insights into what people understand and misunderstand when it comes to this concept.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://chaos.social/@coderbyheart/110107037700570626/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe>
</li></ul><p></p><p>In the early evening, it was time for the next part of the program: an official conference dinner and party for everyone. Such a lovely idea! More chances to network, make new connections and strengthen old ones. This was just the first day, though, so after heading back to the hotel and enjoying one more long conversation with João on all the things, it was time to end the day.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Day Two in Full Swing</h2><div>Booster offered lots of hands-on sessions, really loved it. As non-Norwegian speaker I had less to choose from, and still plenty of interesting topics were available.</div><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Workshop "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/thursday/1_short_talks_and_workshops/bug%C3%A5rden/62-refactorama-refactoring-under-constraints/" target="_blank">Refaktorama - Refactoring under constraints</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/siv-midtun-hollup-b263611/" target="_blank">Siv Midtun Hollup</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/karolineskylstad/" target="_blank">Karoline Skylstad</a>. This was just perfect. Siv and Karoline gave a short and just enough introduction to refactoring, including why this is a good thing to do and should not be neglected, as well as common challenges and coping strategies. Then the majority of the time available we could use to work in groups on refactoring a small program. I especially liked that the situation was framed quite realistically. We received a small program that obviously showed flaws, yet served its purpose well so far. Now the needs changed, so each group received a new feature to implement and hence to prepare for. We also received a constraint under which to operate - very much like in everyday work. The refactoring results clearly differed depending on the focus the group had. And in general, lots of great conversions took place, sharing approaches and ideas, and ending up in a different place than any of us would have when working on our own.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://chaos.social/@coderbyheart/110111000689327084/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe>
</li><li>After lunch, we had two open space slots. I really like this structure where people bring their own topics, build their own agenda and contribute in ways they prefer. Usually a great place to gain new insights, get advice, practice hands-on, and more. I opted for a session on how to say no - we exchanged lots of experience and thoughts on what to try. For the second slot I decided to join the discussion on what hinders people from using TDD. Yet again a very fruitful conversation, triggering new perspectives and thoughts!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://chaos.social/@coderbyheart/110112058673684939/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe>
</li><li>Experience report "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/thursday/10_experience_reports/kongesalen_4/251-free-time-feature-frenzy/" target="_blank">Free time feature frenzy</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisabeth-whiteley-565a3463/" target="_blank">Elisabeth Whiteley</a>. This was a great talk, loved the story, its presentation and its lessons. Elisabeth started out on an ambitious hobby project - yet how to do this without making it feel like more work and risk burning out? How could this be fun? After trying various approaches, she found a way for herself, based on her own needs. I really related to her advice to plan for low brain power days and leave tasks for those, as well as to (not aim for perfection and instead be okay to) write bad code - it might work for your purpose. She encouraged everyone who's picking up a free time project to at least try to have fun. As someone doing a lot of work-like learning initiatives myself in my free time, this talk hit close to home and offered great food for thought.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110125447532658858/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script></li></ul><p></p><p>Time for speakers dinner! One of the great benefits of being a speaker is that this way it's a lot easier to get to know fellow speakers - and hence people who have a lot of valuable experience to share. The speakers dinner is one of these opportunities to get to know each other over some nice food and drinks. And what a fabulous location the organizers chose! They invited us all up on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulriken" target="_blank">Ulriken</a>, the highest of the seven mountains surrounding Bergen. The restaurant there indulged us with lots of courses of fabulous dishes covering a variety of tastes. All that while enjoying a stunning view. The true Norwegian weather, cloudy and gray, didn't make it any less stunning. Huge thanks to the organizers! This dinner also allowed me to meet <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewharmellaw/" target="_blank">Andrew Harmel Law</a> and talk - we've both been to <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2020/02/ddd-europe-2020-about-close-collaboration-shared-language-and-visual-models.html" target="_blank">DDD Europe in 2020</a> without having met there yet, so this was a great chance to share stories. Really enjoyed our conversations.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">One Last Conference Day</h2><p>I've never been a morning person, and the further a conference progresses, the harder my mornings become. Still, I'm glad I made it just in time for starting another day with a workshop. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Workshop "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/friday/1_short_talks_and_workshops/dr%C3%A6ggen_7/23-from-bricks-to-circles-learn-the-onion-architecture/" target="_blank">From bricks to circles: learn the onion architecture</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lars-l%C3%B8nne-1638181a9/" target="_blank">Lars Lønne</a>. Lars presented an alternative to the well-known layered architecture: the onion architecture. That intrigued me, as I've already seen the hexagonal architecture, another well-known approach, yet not this one. Through a series of exercises we got a better feeling of how an existing small application built in the layered way could be transformed to the onion architecture - and hence massively increase its testability without needing to mock out too many things. Basically anything not interacting with the outside world is pushed inside of the onion, hence reducing dependencies and encapsulating domain logic. I liked that we also had time to try this transformation ourselves and get a first feeling how this could be like.</li><li>Experience report "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/friday/5_short_talks/kongesal_1/45-a-commune-in-the-ivory-tower-a-new-approach-to-architecture/" target="_blank">A Commune in the Ivory Tower: A New Approach to Architecture</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewharmellaw/" target="_blank">Andrew Harmel Law</a>. Brilliant talk, I related heavily! Seen this a lot and discussed this a lot in my last company with my fellow principal engineers there. Andrew shared his experience when he felt like an anchor, slowing things down; and this didn't stop when moving into architecture. For any decision needed, each team came to him, which was not only making things slow yet also stressing him out. Sitting in the (architecture) ivory tower simply set things up for failure. Instead, they found a decentralized way of making decisions, enabling everyone to make decisions while offering non-blocking advice on demand. To always know what's happening, they used lightweight architecture decision records (ADRs). To optimize, they included conversations at an architectural advice forum. There were a few failure modes to look out for, with the worst being no trust (as is the case with so many other topics as well). This "anybody" approach to architecture really spoke to me. Probably as I'm talking a lot about resilience and autonomy in my teams. If you want to dive deeper, Andrew wrote an amazing, detailed blog post about the topic: "<a href="https://martinfowler.com/articles/scaling-architecture-conversationally.html" target="_blank">Scaling the Practice of Architecture, Conversationally</a>".<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110125447897195934/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://2023.boosterconf.no/program/friday/7_closing_keynote/the-nature-of-storytelling/" target="_blank">The nature of code storytelling.</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/daan-van-berkel-573850b/" target="_blank">Daan van Berkel</a>. Daan shared his journey from discovering programming to creating programs throughout his life. He realized they had one thing in common: he programmed to express and process his emotions, and make connections with people. This for him is the nature of code and storytelling. An entertaining and encouraging closing keynote!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/110125448245760187/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://mastodon.social/embed.js"></script>
</li></ul><div>People were happy. Organizers tired, yet also happy. All the volunteers and other helpers were celebrated. The conference ended. Well, officially at least. Those people who were still there had a small informal after-party at one of the local offices. I spent a really relaxed evening with Elizabeth, Joep, Micha and others before ending up again in the hotel bar for final conversations before having to say our goodbyes.</div><p></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Follow-up, Sightseeing, Conclusion</h2><div>As usual when speaking at conferences, there's not only the preparation phase and the actual session, yet there are also things to be done after the conference to close the loop. For me that includes publishing my sketchnotes, writing this blog post, sending documents to the organizers for reimbursement, and more. Yet that didn't stop me from enjoying an additional day in Bergen - another benefit of speaking at conferences, you have a good chance to check out a new location while you're there. If you'd like to get an impression on what I saw during my tour through Bergen, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lisihocke/" target="_blank">follow me on Instagram</a>. Really enjoyed a calm day in the city before going home.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, I can definitely recommend Booster Conference. I liked the variety of topics offered, including lots of technical hands-on sessions. Great organization, great people. The most difficult part was probably the language, though. Sometimes the session tracks showed a mixture of Norwegian and English sessions, so that I had to be careful not to pick a combination that would leave me in a spot where I would not understand the next session. This was especially true for lightning talks and shorter workshops. That being said, it's a great thing for the local community that sessions are offered not only in English. Language is important and can raise or tear down lots of barriers and hinder or provide safety. Needs can be accommodated, like with a well-structured program or tools like using language tags to make it easier to include people into groups.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had a great time. The conference offered changing lots of perspectives, from understanding the problems of our users to different architectures, from varying role conceptions to psychological safety - and even the view from the top of a mountain. So if you have the chance, check out Booster Conference!</div><p></p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" src="https://chaos.social/@joeposaurus/110122886187439801/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-68400257537918563872022-12-31T19:26:00.000+01:002022-12-31T19:26:04.743+01:002022 - Acknowledgement and Gratitude<p>Thanks to having a blog, I made it a habit to look back at the end of the year. It serves me well to acknowledge the things that happened and also be grateful for having such wonderful people in my life. Especially as 2022 was again a year of manifold global crises affecting people in so many ways.</p><p>So, here's my personal review of the past year, by no means comprehensive or overly structured - just taking note of what came to my mind. I'm quite late with doing so this year, a fact that does fit my general feeling for this year very well. A bit rushed, running behind, somehow making it work in the end - and still feeling grateful for all the good parts.</p><p>Let's start with work.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>My dear peers at Ada, especially my teammates and my fellow quality engineers. I appreciate having you every day, and especially when times are hard. Thank you so much for validating me and my expertise, for offering new opportunities to grow, and for your ongoing emotional support, encouragement and kindness. This company and position might not be an easy one, yet you make it worthwhile. I'm grateful. Let's continue using this opportunity to build quality into our products and make them even more meaningful and valuable for people.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Lots of people shared today on how much the team cares for each other, how many people take over and drive topics, how much we see each other and make space, how much we became aware of load and sharing it. One teammate said: "A productive and strong team can get more done."</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1569815264862027779?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I'm all the more grateful for all these people who listened to what's going on in my head and all the circles I'm spinning in (no matter whether they are necessary or not). Huge thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/TestPappy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TestPappy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jrosaproenca</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DanAshby04?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DanAshby04</a> for being there in ways I didn't even know I needed. ❤</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1603192142804942848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Having switched companies was quite an endeavor and rollercoaster experience in itself, with all the good and bad and rewards and struggles and ups and downs. I don't regret it one bit! So much learning in here. I posted about some experiences in <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/01/onboarding-struggles-and-strategies.html" target="_blank">Onboarding Struggles and Strategies</a> and <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/07/a-time-of-transition-eight-months-on-a-new-team.html" target="_blank">A Time of Transition - Eight Months on a New Team</a>. There's more to reflect on and share when the time comes. Yet just the mere fact of a new industry and business domain, new company and team, new tech stack and tooling was full of insights and growth.<br />
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</li><li>My team is quite big and changed constellation so many times during one year I can hardly believe how much we achieved together. I mean, we had 19 team changes in 12 months - imagine what we could have done based on more stable relationships! Despite all odds, we managed to form a real team, foster our bond, support each other as we go, and learn a lot together. There's a lot to do and a lot of room for improvement - always doing a bit better helped us massively. The team came incredibly far in only one year, and I'm very hopeful for our continued journey together.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Lisi is one of the leading examples how optimism can do good things. Look at what she’s doing for years. And that is only part of the community. Trust me, at work she’s at least as good as you think.<br /><br />Being a tester and being optimistic can work and it can work well.</p>— Patrick Prill (@TestPappy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TestPappy/status/1549833919067049985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>I personally felt that in certain aspects of whole team ownership I came farer with this team than with all others before. For example, having people take care of testing not only when I'm off yet also for longer periods when I'm around and have a different topic to focus on. This also gave me space to contribute in different ways to the team. Not only figure out further improvements close to testing and quality, yet also supporting development more with investigating and debugging issues, fixing them, or making identified improvements myself. Having this space did not only help increase the team's resilience, it also got me closer to becoming a more full-shaped generalist so I can shape-shift easier, jump to help with whatever needs doing with less friction, as well as fill even more different gaps. Granted, it's also the first time I had gathered as many pieces of the puzzle and every piece is helping me contribute in better ways.<br />
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</li><li>I learned to love debugging even more! It's literally a skill I really like to hone, especially ever since a former colleague praised me (the "tester") for even knowing about debugging tools and not being scared to used them, and since <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmonz/" target="_blank">Amitai Schleier</a> amazed me back on my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/codeconfident.html" target="_blank">#CodeConfident</a> challenge with his approaches that allowed him to figure out the issues way quicker than I was able to. Also last year, debugging brought my developer teammates and me (again, the "tester") together and allowed us to see how we can both contribute our skills there. It's a lovely intersection of investigation and exploration and choosing different approaches and perspectives and, and, and. Happy I could practice it this year in my new team as well. By the way, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvans/" target="_blank">Julia Evans</a> recently published an amazing zine on the topic, check out "<a href="https://jvns.ca/blog/2022/12/21/new-zine--the-pocket-guide-to-debugging/" target="_blank">The Pocket Guide to Debugging</a>".<br />
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</li><li>As we changed team constellations so many times, there was lots of onboarding (and offboarding) going on in my team. I've been jumping a lot on these opportunities. On the one hand, as I've not been able to spread it as much in the team as <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/01/onboarding-struggles-and-strategies.html" target="_blank">I hoped for in the beginning of the year</a>. On the other hand, as it's yet another chance to practice explaining things in simple terms and improving my own understanding. Repetition is great here! And as everyone also asks different questions, there's always something new to learn and take as input for further improvements.</li><li>With my current team I held back much with formal knowledge sharing. I was quite conscious trying not to overwhelm them with everything else going on. So, I chose to focus on learning and sharing hands-on instead. Always iterating, always doing a bit better. Sometimes it was hard to live with "not good, barely enough"; practiced that as well in favor of more long-lasting change. Also across the company I know I could share my knowledge in more ways. Not that I didn't share any, yet there wasn't as much capacity going into that yet.</li><li>Lots of pairing and ensembling with my fellow colleagues, as well as working on different technical hands-on topics is what gave me lots of energy this year. I'd really love to see more of that. At the same time, I'd love to see less of the energy drainers this year - less non-transparency, unclarity, miscommunication, constant turmoil and uncertainties where more stability would have helped.</li><li>Lots of times this year I found myself overwhelmed, self-doubting, low on energy, always running behind, rushed and driven by external forces. I got personally challenged quite a few times throughout this year by different people. Sometimes I dealt with this better, sometimes not as well. Same with keeping my own boundaries. Especially when it comes to keeping my energy levels in check I struggled. I tried a few different things, some more successful than others. I took up personal coaching again to help me see different options and perspectives. I really would like to stay ahead of things again, realizing closer to the moment when things are going sideways and I should step back and recharge. I also practiced saying no to what drains me and more intentionally say yes to what gives me energy. Such a hard yet rewarding thing to do. All this again will help me cope better with unexpected things - those will always be there, it's life after all. Taking care of myself will also help me take care of those in my care better.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Humungous shout-out to my dear friend and colleague <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> for saying "no" to a new topic that was dumped on her table!<br />It should have been easier for you to say "no", but I'm so damned proud of you that you did! My hat's off to you!<br /><br />We should all learn more how to say "no"!</p>— Patrick Prill (@TestPappy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TestPappy/status/1603088248963833857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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</li><li>I practiced giving feedback, on different levels. Personal conversations (like the classic "the term guys is not gender-neutral and here's how it impacts me when you make this word choice"), as well as public praise of people showing behavior I'd like to see more of. Team feedback, in retros, with my managers, and more. And organizational feedback to senior leadership, especially on unhelpful cultural patterns I've observed over the year. I started asking for feedback as well more - another topic to practice more frequently. Finally, I also practiced receiving feedback, acknowledging it, and then making intentional choices what to act on and how.<br />
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</li><li>I have learned a lot about <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/leadership.html" target="_blank">leadership</a> over the past years. Nearly every day this serves me really well. In specifics all the things that my dear former colleague <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-krishnan-0934007/" target="_blank">Shiva Krishnan</a> and I put together for our leadership workshop series last year. It helps me thinking and choosing strategies and approaches for specific situations. Whether I had picked the "right" one is hard to tell within the situation, sometimes we realize its impact only in hindsight. Yet just having a few thinking tools to help reflect and widen my own perspectives helps massively.</li><li>I observed several former teammates from my previous company continue growing and going their own way. Be it getting promoted and taking on new responsibilities, or changing companies to pursue their goals, or daring to create <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2a7xc7t1ko&list=PLibKZhywWiuuex21JbUTsmFn9_Adcwi8v" target="_blank">content for the wider community</a>, like my dear former colleague <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mateusduraes1994/" target="_blank">Mateus Ferreira Durães</a>. This is just awesome, one of the best things to see!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Just love seeing a dear former teammate picking up creating TypeScript videos again for the Brazilian tech community! 🤩🎉 Check out <a href="https://twitter.com/mduraes1994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mduraes1994</a>'s videos here and stay tuned for more: <a href="https://t.co/YPfAAXo7Zf">https://t.co/YPfAAXo7Zf</a> <a href="https://t.co/jl5ev5r9BU">https://t.co/jl5ev5r9BU</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1598481941011271680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>There's more than work, of course.</div><div><ul><li>I honestly have the best cheerleaders of the world, and I'm super grateful. Way more people than I can name here. Whenever I share something good or bad, achievements or failures, lots of these people regularly make my day. Just showing that they are there does! Honestly, I believe we need to be there and cheer for each other more, it can't only be me who desperately needs this kind of encouragement. So, something for me to do more next year!<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Of course you can do it. There’s absolutely no doubt about that.</p>— Patrick Prill (@TestPappy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TestPappy/status/1608613928808087552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>After many years I saw my learning partner <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer Mamoojee</a> in real life again! I cherish all our calls, yet seeing someone you worked with for over six years in person again is just amazing. Thanks Toyer for being on this whole journey together with me! I doubt I would have managed as much over the last years on my own. Thanks a lot for being in my life.</li><li><a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/12/new-year-new-pact-time-for-another-personal-challenge.html" target="_blank">A new pact was born</a>! After a break of a few years, Toyer and I finally agreed to a new deal as learning partners. I'm super excited (and scared again!) for this new personal challenge for 2023. My focus will be on all things application security - and luckily, it's going to be fitting really well with my work context. Really hope for more synergies and even more learning in this vast area of expertise.<br />
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</li><li>I finally managed to unlock an achievement this year I waited for quite some time: I gave my first full day conference session this year! Thanks a bunch to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer Mamoojee</a> and <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a> for making this happen. After many plans in the last years for full-day sessions, none of them became reality in the end due to lots of reasons. Yet Toyer's and my tutorial "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/lets-lead-quality-together/" target="_blank">Let’s lead quality together!</a>" was finally it.<br />
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</li><li>For nearly the whole of 2021 I had paired with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-krishnan-0934007/" target="_blank">Shiva Krishnan</a> at my former company on a series of leadership workshops. We had built on a concept that Shiva ran a few times successfully already, decided to revise it completely - and something meaningful emerged. This year, being now at different companies, we brainstormed how we can bring these leadership concepts to the wider community beyond company boundaries. And we made the first step happen by giving a talk about our pairing journey and what helped us make it a fruitful one - the "<a href="https://www.slideshare.net/lisihocke/human-connection-the-key-to-a-beneficial-pairing-experience-agile-testing-days-2022" target="_blank">Human Connection: The Key to a Beneficial Pairing Experience</a>". Thank you Shiva for staying with me through all ups and downs!</li><li>I've again had the honor and privilege to speak at a bunch of conferences this year, as well as appear on other formats. It's been <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/speaking-engagements.html" target="_blank">15 sessions overall</a> for me! Really glad to be able to give back to community, learn a lot from my peers there and connect with people. I also got to know a new conference with <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/09/socrates-2022-a-welcoming-community-of-people-learning-together.html" target="_blank">SoCraTes</a> (finally made it there)! Especially grateful for <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolalindgren/" target="_blank">Nicola Lindgren</a> to recommend me to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanselman/" target="_blank">Scott Hanselman</a> on the <a href="https://hanselminutes.com/854/learning-via-personal-challenges-with-lisi-hocke" target="_blank">Hanselminutes podcast</a>, for <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetgregory/" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-crispin-88420a/" target="_blank">Lisa Crispin</a> for recommending me to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/henry-suryawirawan/" target="_blank">Henry Suryawirawan</a> for the <a href="https://techleadjournal.dev/episodes/104/" target="_blank">Tech Lead Journal podcast</a>, and for them also to have me on their own <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGB98n9m1rg" target="_blank">Donkeys & Dragons</a> series. I'm also really grateful I already have few events lined up for 2023 as well. More to be revealed, stay tuned.</li><li>I wrote a few more blog posts this year again. Still usually bigger ones and hence not too many, yet with this being the 13th post I've published more of my writing again compared to recent years, and I'm glad about it.</li><li>I reviewed and copy edited two books. One was the super cool collection of "<a href="https://leanpub.com/howcanitestthis" target="_blank">How Can I Test This?</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolalindgren/" target="_blank">Nicola Lindgren</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-harris-citp-mbcs-5a75733/" target="_blank">Mike Harris</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumanbala/" target="_blank">Suman Bala</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipw1/" target="_blank">Philip Wong</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-shaligram/" target="_blank">Shawn Shaligram</a> - thanks for having me! The other one was fiction - the fifth novel written by my best friend <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlene-guggenberger-0735a9122/" target="_blank">Marlene Guggenberger</a> I'm so very proud of and who continues to put her trust in me. And I also want to thank my dear friend <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tdpauw/" target="_blank">Thierry de Pauw</a> for asking me for my thoughts and listening to them on several of his recent articles (they are amazing, check them out!).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Just want to give a shout out to <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> for reviewing the contents of How Can I Test This? so far and reminding me I can diversify my use of heuristics, along with great suggestions of whose heuristics to look at. <br /><br />I’ve really appreciated the feedback so far. 🙏🎉</p>— Nicola Lindgren 🇳🇿💻 (@NicolaLindgren) <a href="https://twitter.com/NicolaLindgren/status/1503639198267580418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I will repeat myself, but I find it utterly necessary to mention this because, without their help, this series would not have been as well-rounded and complete.<br /><br />Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/sebrose?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sebrose</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveSmith_Tech?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SteveSmith_Tech</a> You have been amazing 😊</p>— Thierry de Pauw on @tdpauw@mastodon.social (@tdpauw) <a href="https://twitter.com/tdpauw/status/1575256002420670477?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-nitsche-457ba3158/" target="_blank">Samuel Nitsche</a> was so kind to reach out to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernonrichards/" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a> and me to check our interest to start a code reading club together. Absolutely yes, we were interested indeed! We've been so lucky that a bunch of awesome people joined in as well. It's a wonderful small group to practice in, and the sessions we had were a safe place to share and learn with each other. Special shout-out to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/felienne/" target="_blank">Felienne Hermans</a> and <a href="https://github.com/katjam" target="_blank">Katja</a> for their inspiration on <a href="https://codereading.club/" target="_blank">code reading clubs</a>!</li><li>Remember the <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/testing-tour.html" target="_blank">Testing Tour</a> I've been on in 2018? <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/codecop/" target="_blank">Peter Kofler</a> and I are pairing ever since on security testing, roughly once a month. Really grateful he's on this journey for so long with me! And there's always so much more to learn in this area.</li><li>I'm part of a power learning group that <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer</a> and I had started years ago. Unfortunately, in the past years we all lacked energy to continue our regular calls and stay in close contact. This is one of the things I'd like to see if more people have the appetite to revive it again. Really missing these people.</li><li>A few people reached out to me and thanked me for something in the past where I had helped them. Wow, what a feeling! It was a tiny thing in the past like providing a few thoughts on a question, for some it literally meant the world and had way more impact than I imagined. This is so encouraging to keep on doing this.</li><li>The whole Twitter situation has been incredibly sad for me. I owe a lot to this platform and the communities I've found there. I am really glad that other platforms do exist and communities can move, and still, it's personally really sad. I know it's way worse for many others who depend a lot more on this platform and specific communities there that won't be found any place else. I am very grateful for my privilege to be able to quite easily <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/11/mastodon-lessons-learned.html" target="_blank">move to Mastodon</a> where I found lots of people old and new.</li><li>For lots of things I want to improve on and allow myself to go in small steps, I try to find habits that work for me, mostly small daily habits. You know, really small steps, yet <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/03/consistency.html" target="_blank">consistently</a>. This year I did not take up a personal challenge at first as I was changing jobs. Checking in again with myself after the probation period passed, I realized things had been too hectic during this period and I needed a bit more time before I can really focus on a new challenge. Hence, I decided to add to my list of daily habits instead. I wanted to brush the dust of a few things I enjoy yet mostly didn't make time for anymore; recovering lost language and drawing skills, moving more, and the like. Oh my, did my habit list grow! On some days it's been honestly a lot, wouldn't recommend adding so many at once, and also not in several batches. Well, it still forces me to integrate them more smartly into my everyday routine. Yet overall, I'm happy with myself that even the youngest of these habits crossed the 180 days mark.</li><li>I've restarted a few things this year that I did a lot in the past. As mentioned already, practicing another language again (besides English). Drawing again (it's been ages). Getting myself a new bicycle and actually taking it for a ride (even longer ago). And also: finally restarting one of my most beloved activities in my free time: indoor volleyball (yep, not that easy in pandemic times). I deliberately tried to set aside time for these things and I don't regret it one bit.</li></ul></div><div>So, looking back and summing things up for myself, I'm content and I'm grateful. Things are as good as they can be right now. I'm personally in a luxury position, being as privileged as I am. No, not everything is going well, I have my own share of struggles. And still. There's opportunity to keep things as good as they can be, and in some points they can also get better. For me, for others around me, for everyone. Let's always remember kindness and move forward together.</div><p>Life is good. Not always, but it can be. I'll try to make every day good enough, and enjoy it.</p>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-71107844938115747092022-12-20T01:56:00.003+01:002022-12-20T01:56:56.034+01:00New Year, New Pact - Time for Another Personal Challenge<p> Finally, it happened again: a new pact for 2023 had been born! If you're following my journey, you know I've done four big <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/personal-challenges.html" target="_blank">personal challenges</a> so far, learning in public outside my comfort zone. In 2017 it was all about <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/speaking-engagements.html" target="_blank">conference speaking</a>, in 2018 I went on a <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/testing-tour.html" target="_blank">Testing Tour</a>, 2019 was focused on becoming <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/codeconfident.html" target="_blank">#CodeConfident</a> and in 2020 I set out to share <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/securitystories.html" target="_blank">#SecurityStories</a>.</p><p>2020 was also the year I decided to pause my personal challenges due to so many other things happening, both <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2020/09/i-am-white.html" target="_blank">in the world</a> as well as in my career. In the past two years I've been working very intensely with two teams at both my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2021/06/dear-future-me-i-am-not-alone.html" target="_blank">former</a> as well as my <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/07/a-time-of-transition-eight-months-on-a-new-team.html" target="_blank">current</a> company. Now that I'm settled in, I do need more <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0D3jIdhvI2QDGIHu921ndt" target="_blank">stability in my relationships to ground me and navigate uncertainty and change from</a>. This is what I expect and hope from 2023 and will do my best to make happen. </p><p>With all that in mind, last Friday it was finally time to sit with my learning partner <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer Mamoojee</a> again and strike a brand-new pact, just <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/blog/what-a-journey-from-conference-participant-to-keynote-speaker/" target="_blank">like we did for the first time back in 2016</a>. This time, while our endeavors have a different focus, we indeed even have a common theme again!</p><p><br /></p><h2>Brainstorming</h2><div>Like every year, I took note of potential topics for a new pact and personal challenge over the course of the year. Anything that came to my mind, anything that intrigued me to invest more time on, and especially topics that scare me. Why that? To get out of my comfort zone and grow. It's been a common theme since I started with my personal challenges and while these are indeed challenging and scary, they got me far. So: scary it is again!</div><p>Here's my quite raw and only minimally edited list of ideas for 2023, with points noted down as they came to mind without re-ordering.</p><blockquote><div><i>- open source contribution<br /></i><i>- security<br /></i><i>- accessibility<br /></i><i>- app development<br /></i><i>- call for weekly 90min ensemble creating an open source app together<br /></i><i>- a project a month<br /></i><i>- build intentionally insecure mobile app for practicing<br /></i><i>- "everyday security" series<br /></i><i>- "accessible security"<br />- asking for help; see <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/a11yadystokes/" target="_blank">Ady Stokes</a>' <a href="https://twitter.com/A11y_Ady/status/1511441170555195394?t=uxrFxSpx7wabcodVVIVwQw&s=19" target="_blank">idea</a>: "Maybe your next tour could be asking for help?"</i></div><div><i>- initiate pairing / ensembling with others<br /></i><i>- deep dive focus weeks: learn foundations for a topic and share - deepen my generalist me<br /></i><i>- series of how I test things, especially backend etc.<br /></i><i>- anything that contributes to my vision of systemic inclusion and growth?<br /></i><i>- feeling I'm doing the same over the past years, over and over again, also re-using a lot of what I've built before; yet there's so much more to learn and grow into, like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/maaret/" target="_blank">Maaret</a> continually does, expanding (see alos <a href="https://twitter.com/maaretp/status/1576101969638617088" target="_blank">when she shared</a> "</i><i>When I do #ExploratoryTesting, I have hundreds of options I can generate on the fly. I’m again appreciating that some people see barely one option and we need to teach how to generate options."</i><i>)</i></div><div><i>- do something I haven't done before, truly grow again; I've used lots of approaches the last years that had worked before, just built on them and refined them; yet didn't really reinvent myself anymore<br /></i><i>- really do need my own topics again, not being driven from conference to conference alone, neglecting my goals and blog<br /></i><i>- bug stories / debugging stories; maybe similar to </i></div><i><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerieaurora/" target="_blank">Valerie Aurora</a>'s <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gJfl2cl6NGKTfTy94hZ6JIojhs6J9Fyybqe8GWFN7Cc/edit" target="_blank">systems programming stories</a></i><div><i>- similar to observation notes taken at work: take live notes while working hands-on to convey approaches and thoughts</i><i><br /></i><i>- how about: tackling any security practice challenge I come across, take notes as I go and publish them, join the community (actively!) and ask for help and pairs to work with (doing what scares me, joining this community always did, also asking for help)<br /></i><i>- security could be complemented with at work practice and pairing with security folks<br /></i><i>- accessibility could be covered by work initiatives; honing development skills could be combined with security or run on the side<br /></i><i>- security makes a good talk / workshop topic as well, and grows career options<br /></i><i>- join security conference<br /></i><i>- with security I would pick up the theme started in 2020, revised<br /></i><i>- theme for the year and overarching experiment worked better than having to come up with something new all the time<br /></i><i>- a lot of brainstormed topics could just be smaller blog posts without such a big commitment (even recurring as series like my conference reports): how I test, debugging, bug stories, learning topics, etc.<br /></i><i>- asking for help and security doesn't exclude each other either; security was scary enough I didn't join a community last time; could be practicing asking good security questions<br /></i><i>- really about the question what scares me most that also grows me in the direction I want to grow (e.g. solo open source contribution might or might not help)<br /></i><i>- I'm fueling my generalist skills every work day, I'm on it already, not scary<br /></i><i>- what scares me most is security and building things<br /></i><i>- could use <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-janca/" target="_blank">Tanya Janca</a>'s <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/CyberMentoringMonday" target="_blank">Cyber Mentoring Monday</a><br /></i><i>- join OWASP chapter<br /></i><i>- use training budget to go on security conference<br /></i><i>- mobile security would be new angle and relevant in AppSec<br /></i><i>- nothing is as scary as showing my face in front of security people and communities<br /></i><i>- joining and actively participating in at least one security community will let me understand application security better and allow me to solve five mobile security challenges</i><i><br /></i><i>- practice debugging strategies and approaches (like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvans/" target="_blank">Julia Evans</a> shared), exercises; fixing bugs in unknown systems (hence requiring investigating and learning the system)</i></div></blockquote><p>Now, what do you think made it as my chosen challenge for next year?</p><p><br /></p><h2>My Pact for 2023</h2><div>My last personal challenge was on the topic of security, and I stopped it in favor of <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/search?q=i+am+white" target="_blank">more important topics emerging in 2020</a>. The topic is by far not over and I continued keeping it in my head for the next years, always growing myself a bit further. Still, it's a huge area and requires more focus to dive in properly. So here's what I'm setting out to do in 2023.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The challenge:</b> Application security is my focus - especially everyday hands-on practical situations when designing, developing and building a mobile app. For security in general, the <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2019/12/my-pact-for-2020-let-the-next-challenge-begin.html" target="_blank">main reasoning from back in 2020 why security is scary</a> remains. Yet I learned that security just like development is a team sport. So on top of the general scariness of the vast security field, my challenge now also includes people - especially joining new communities, as well as asking for help and feedback. Yes, I've done that in other areas in the past, and yet for security this feels different. This is a jump I didn't manage yet, as much as I'd like to. So yes, scary. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The hypothesis:</b> I believe that joining and actively participating in at least one security community for a period of six months will increase my understanding of practical application security in everyday work situations. I've proven the hypothesis when I have...</div><div><ul><li>solved five mobile application security challenges,</li><li>explained how I solved them, and </li><li>asked community members for their review and feedback to learn from.</li></ul><div><br /></div></div><div><b>The experiment:</b> To prove or disprove the hypothesis, let's get more concrete.</div><div><ul><li>I can join one or more communities, yet it's about staying six months and actively participating in any of them.</li><li>Challenges could be a variety of practice exercises on topics like threat modeling, SAST activities, security testing and more - as long as they would help me in everyday work, hence the focus on mobile.</li><li>Mobile application challenges cover the whole mobile system and architecture, including backend services.</li><li>To explain how I solved the challenges, I will write blog posts. I will edit my explanations based on the received feedback.</li><li>People to ask for review or feedback could come from the communities I freshly joined or the wider global community - yet it should be people I don't know in person yet at this moment in time.</li></ul><div><br /></div></div><div><b>Time line criteria:</b> It always proved valuable for me to think about when to start, when to pause, when to stop.</div><div><ul><li>Start: I will start only in 2023 as there are more todos on my desk before and I want to dive in with more focus.</li><li>Pause: Whenever I realize I neglect the self care I committed to (for three years I'm now using those defined in <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2019/12/my-pact-for-2020-let-the-next-challenge-begin.html" target="_blank">my last challenge</a>), I pause for the week and take care of myself before continuing with the challenge again.</li><li>Stop: It's time to stop my challenge and evaluate my experiment overall when I've either proven the hypothesis or ten months have passed.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><b>The Tag:</b> I've made good use of a short identifier to be able to easily refer to my challenges. This time I thought about going for #LearnWithAppSecPeople. While it's not short like all my past challenges, it's expressive enough and not in use yet. And then I discarded the idea for not being snappy and sticky enough and went instead for #AskAppSec. Short and again an alliteration, what would be the chance!</div></div><div><br /></div><div>That's it! Yet I'm already working on my security skills, so what exactly is scary here for me again? People, new communities, asking for help. Feeling inadequate and fearing I won't belong as much as I hope I would. And security being such a vast and complex field it's easy to feel very dumb, so building more confidence to be able to figure this out is required.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, what's in it for me? I hope to increase my confidence, hone my skills, grow my understanding, increase my career options, grow in general thanks to scary things and new people, and also to apply my gained knowledge at work.</div><div><br /></div><div>I shared that Toyer has a similar theme - and yes, he's now also focusing on security, eager to learn more. I'll leave it up to him to share more detail if he wants to, and if we're all lucky his journey might end up with a talk out of his lessons learned. What helps both of us is that security gained importance in both our work contexts and we're both hoping for certain synergy effects.</div><div><br /></div><h2>There's More for 2023</h2><div>Although speaking itself won't be my priority next year, I will continue speaking at conferences, to keep learning together with various communities, and also create at least a new talk. I will start new initiatives at work, trying my best to use the foundations built this year to help us thrive more next year. I'll also try and continue not to forget myself and the rest I need next year - keeping my boundaries and energy levels in check as well as exercising self care.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's not going to get a boring year, it might get busy. And still. I'm truly excited (and scared enough) for this new pact and challenge!</div>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-15891543645823828982022-11-29T23:57:00.000+01:002022-11-29T23:57:08.947+01:00Agile Testing Days 2022 - The Unicorn Land We Build Together<p>Being back at <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a> was a blast. I had some energy-draining weeks and months before, and this event did require me to prepare quite a bit as well - two brand-new sessions, both paired. In hindsight, it's been worth it and I wouldn't have missed it. Here's how I experienced the conference with only a few people highlighted of so many more I really appreciated seeing again or getting to know for the first time. Brace yourselves, this post will be long as all my conference reports and this one spans a whole week.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Saturday</h2><div>Last year it was really nice to arrive on Saturday already before the conference week. It reduced anxiety when it comes to traveling, it allowed seeing people earlier in a quieter setting, and especially sleeping in on Sunday before the event starts. Didn't regret it one bit, so I chose to repeat it this year.</div><div><br /></div><div>Arriving in the evening, a handful of other speakers had already made their journey to Potsdam as well. Like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbcharlton/" target="_blank">Jenna Charlton</a>! We decided to go to dinner together and had a lovely evening with really good food. Time well spent, great conversations to start this with. Coming back to the hotel, people had already left the bar to favor an early night, so we decided to call it a day - just to meet <a href="https://linktr.ee/chrissbaumann" target="_blank">Christian Baumann</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-josten-9b4a3377/" target="_blank">Tamara Josten</a> in front of the elevators! So, the bar it was and more great conversations before finally going to bed.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Nice coincidence, <a href="https://twitter.com/TanteMara81?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TanteMara81</a><br />& I running into <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/TheyWrestleTest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheyWrestleTest</a> when heading to the hotel bar.<br />Good conversations as a great start into <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agileTD</a> 😊🦄</p>— Christian Baumann (@chrissbaumann) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrissbaumann/status/1594094732724113408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Sunday</h2><div>I really enjoyed sleeping in and starting the day slowly. Meeting more and more people in the hotel lobby, catching up on more connections I've made over the years was just lovely. Like seeing <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/baileyhanna/" target="_blank">Bailey Hanna</a> again whom I first met at <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2018/08/cast-2018-a-community-adventure.html" target="_blank">CAST 2018</a>. And especially: seeing my learning partner <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer Mamoojee</a> again in person, after many years we could only meet online. Very special moment!</div><div><br /></div><div>This night, I had a wonderful dinner group with Bailey, Toyer and <a href="https://mastodon.social/@TheTraveller@sw-development-is.social" target="_blank">Stephan Kämper</a>. Great food to eat and great food for thought, lots of stories shared. Coming back to the hotel, it was time for Toyer and me to go through our tutorial one last time - it's always good to align once more the day before. I finished off the day by catching up with a few more close friends, like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dragan-spiridonov/" target="_blank">Dragan Spiridonov</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/thomrinke" target="_blank">Thomas Rinke</a>.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> hasn't even officially kicked off yet and I'm already so thankful to be here! Had a wonderful dinner with <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/tottiLFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tottiLFC</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/S_2K?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@S_2K</a> filled with sharing, learning and laughter. I forgot just how much I missed this socializing aspect of conferences! 🦄</p>— Bailey Hanna (@BaileyHanna) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaileyHanna/status/1594415315978706945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Monday</h2><div>The big day came - big for me, as it was the first time I gave a full-day session at a conference. I had a bunch of opportunities the last years, yet all of them had been canceled as knock-on effect of the pandemic. Yet this was happening indeed, finally! And Toyer and I even had 23 participants to join us for our tutorial "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/lets-lead-quality-together/" target="_blank">Let’s lead quality together!</a>".</div><div><br /></div><div>It was such a great experience, time flew as we had expected, yet we managed to make our concept work out in the end. We already received preliminary promising feedback. We're curious to learn more and improve this tutorial further and offer it at more events - as we do feel more people would benefit from what we benefited from ourselves.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Attendees of <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/tottiLFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tottiLFC</a>’s tutorial on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Leadership?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Leadership</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/quality?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#quality</a> are listening to the key ingredients in inspiring others to work together towards a better outcome. They also learn that leadership doesn’t have to be a lonely place! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> <a href="https://t.co/H22ohzMW6T">pic.twitter.com/H22ohzMW6T</a></p>— AgileTD Zone (@AgileTDZone) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDZone/status/1594626816647593986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<p>Right after the tutorial ended, it was time to meet two dear friends and colleagues: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravota/" target="_blank">Rita Avota</a>. I especially loved the fact that it was Rita's first conference and she had opted in for volunteering. Volunteering is such a great way to get access to a conference (besides buying a ticket or speaking) and also gain more insights on how things work in the background.</p><p>Now it was time that the conference was officially opened. And how to better open it than with a keynote? This time it was <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gwendiagram/" target="_blank">Gwen Diagram</a> with "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/happiness-is-quality/" target="_blank">Happiness is Quality</a>". I just loved her energy and authenticity on stage, being unapologetically herself, no matter which position she holds. Really enjoyed hearing her experience of fostering a great engineering culture using lots of concrete tangible examples and stories. There was so much in this keynote to relate to, and a lot of food for thought and ideas to try out in our own contexts. Way more than was possible to put down in a sketchnote! This was a wonderful start into the conference.</p>
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<p>Monday wasn't over yet, especially it's traditionally the evening of the speaker's dinner. Once again, this conference goes out of their ways to offer their speakers a lovely evening with amazing food and even better company. Loved speaking again with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/annecolder/" target="_blank">Anne Colder</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentwijnen/" target="_blank">Vincent Wijnen</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/micha-kutz/" target="_blank">Micha Kutz</a> and more. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The evening ended with further conversations back at the hotel - special thanks to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolasedgwick/" target="_blank">Nicola Sedgwick</a> for your time! - and then it was time to sleep.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Tuesday</h2><p>If you know me, you know I'm not a morning person at all, quite the opposite. Yet there's one thing I make myself do every year at Agile Testing Days, and that's joining the first <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/lean-coffee-1/" target="_blank">Lean Coffee</a> offered by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetgregory/" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-crispin-88420a/" target="_blank">Lisa Crispin</a> on Tuesday morning. Never regretted it so far! Really like this informal agenda-less structure where we can bring our own topics, get advice and share insights with each other. This time, I took a few nuggets of wisdom with me to think about further.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Consider observability early on when thinking about changes: how would we see if something goes wrong? Which insights would we like to gain? Are there any dashboards we need to adapt?</li><li>The person who diagnoses an issue is not always the best person to act on it.</li><li>If you live a culture of "If you see an issue, you own it", then you need to be prepared that if people don't have capacity they start looking away. So, avoid practices that reward people to look away.</li></ul><p></p><p>This year, the conference offered a virtual pass to see the talks streamed live online. I really appreciate this offer as it makes the conference content more accessible - not everyone has the money, time and also possibility to come in person. Also, it allows all of us to catch up on talks we missed within the next months as well. And as this conference offers lots of sessions in parallel this is a really great thing. With this in mind, I opted for workshops and hands-on experience wherever I could.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/any-dramatic-elephants-in-the-room/" target="_blank">Any dramatic elephants in the room?</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/martijnnas" target="_blank">Martijn Nas</a>. Martin shared the concept of the drama triangle with us - a concept that I believe more people need to hear about. If you'd like to learn more, I have a few <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/p/leadership.html#conflict" target="_blank">resources to recommend</a> on the topic.</li>
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<li>Workshop "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/harness-the-power-of-cypress-beyond-the-ui-hybrid-testing/" target="_blank">Harness the power of Cypress beyond the UI: Hybrid Testing</a>" by Marc Mühlenweg and Nils Hahn. Time for hands-on practice! Marc and Nils guided the group to use Cypress in ways beyond interacting through the graphical user interface. Using the API instead as well as directly using the database to set up test data and check assertions is something more people still need to learn about.</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/living-fearlessly-while-living-with-fear/" target="_blank">Living Fearlessly - While living with fear</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-pejgan-wiberg/" target="_blank">Lena Wiberg</a>. This was absolutely amazing. Such a personal and brave talk about our fears, what roots they have and how our brains work when feeling threatened. It was a keynote that many of us needed to hear. Lena received standing ovations and they were very well deserved! The whole talk was so relatable and triggered lots of thoughts. I'm in awe of Lena's courage not only to give this talk yet also to overcome and deal with her fears every day.</li>
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<li>Workshop: "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/agile-engineering-practices-experienced/" target="_blank">Agile Engineering Practices Experienced</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreasschliep/" target="_blank">Andreas Schliep</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sussdorff/" target="_blank">Malte Sussdorff</a>. The speakers presented us a whole bunch of engineering practices, many well known yet some often forgotten. They showed how these practices support and inform each other. I really enjoyed the hands-on part of this session that allowed us to experience some of the presented practices. We started in teams of three pairs from different perspectives (backend, frontend, testing) on a challenge - that in the end nudged us to solve things together anyway. Well, that hits close to my heart! Also, loved pairing with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/testingtimes/" target="_blank">Anne-Marie Charrett</a> and fixing a backend issue together, definitely one of my highlights this year. This session also showed me new tools like <a href="https://www.okteto.com/" target="_blank">Okteto</a> and how to <a href="https://docs.github.com/en/codespaces/developing-in-codespaces/creating-a-codespace-for-a-repository" target="_blank">use GitHub CodeSpaces also for branches</a>. Always good to learn and experience benefits hands-on.</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/be-an-and-not-an-or/" target="_blank">Be an AND. Not an OR</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissasassi/" target="_blank">Melissa Sassi</a>. I really liked Melissa's authentic way to talk about authenticity and why it matters. Loved hearing this honest story and lessons learned - truly inspiring.
</li>
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</ul><div>Time for the evening's <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/miatpp/" target="_blank">MIATPP award</a> and <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/fairytale-miatpp-award-night/" target="_blank">costume party</a>! Lots of people wondered who this year's MIATPP would be. In the end, the award went to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetgregory/" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a> - for the second time! She's making history, so far no one else received this community award two times. Absolutely well deserved, congratulations to her! She continues doing so much for our community. Her latest book with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/selenadelesie/" target="_blank">Selena Delesie</a> "<a href="https://leanpub.com/qualityassessmentpracticesmodelqpam" target="_blank">Assessing Agile Quality Practices with QPAM</a>" is already in my library, can't wait to start reading it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Dinner was great, conversations even better, and people got really creative with their costumes within the fairytale theme. And people like me who don't like to dress up or get into costumes had a wonderful time as well in any clothes we chose to wear. All that in front of a wonderful stage design that properly welcomed all of us into unicorn land.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">You loved the stage design made by our colleague Jana. We loved it from the first moment.<br />It expresses the uniqueness of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agiletd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agiletd</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDZone?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDZone</a> <a href="https://t.co/ONd1RiLxb2">pic.twitter.com/ONd1RiLxb2</a></p>— José Díaz (@jdiaz_berlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/jdiaz_berlin/status/1596227927485468673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Wednesday</h2><p></p><p></p><div>No lean coffee for me today, rather as much sleep as I could get. And then enjoy another full day of great sessions.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/human-impact/" target="_blank">Human Impact</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionacharles/" target="_blank">Fiona Charles</a>. This was an amazing keynote in many regards. Fiona faced technical struggles and her presentation couldn't be projected. Seeing how she coped with these struggles and then ending up just giving a related yet different talk was truly inspiring. When it comes to the messages shared, we all need to hear them (and act on them!) way more, and Fiona made them loud and clear. This was a truly thought-provoking talk we can instantly act on.</li>
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<li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/refining-your-test-automation-approach-in-modern-contexts/" target="_blank">Refining your Test Automation approach in modern contexts</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer Mamoojee</a>. I came to support my learning partner and also because the topic is relevant to me - soon it's time for my own team to relook at our automation and revise our strategy. So much experience and learning went into this great talk! Could really relate to a lot what Toyer shared. He made it really clear what we can do right away to get to a better state when it comes to test automation, on a smaller team scale just as much as strategically across teams. Lots of food for thought for my own context as well.</li>
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<li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/one-size-does-not-fit-all/" target="_blank">One Size Does Not Fit All</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/baileyhanna/" target="_blank">Bailey Hanna</a>. Have you been in conversations (or rather tense discussions) around how much standardization is healthy for our teams and organization when it comes to processes, tooling and the like? I've been in countless ones and it's still a topic in each team and company I join. Bailey's talk gave me new terms and language to talk about processes and what we need in our context. Great input for bringing this back and having better conversations.</li>
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<li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/creating-a-culture-of-learning/" target="_blank">Creating a Culture of Learning</a>" by <a href="about:blank" target="_blank">Huib Schoots</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentwijnen/" target="_blank">Vincent Wijnen</a>. I've seen this keynote also at <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/05/agiletd-open-air-2022-a-unicorn-conference-outdoors.html" target="_blank">AgileTD Open Air</a> and really liked how it evolved and improved based on feedback received - the tangible examples helped convey the message further. I still appreciate that this talk helps us learn better how our brain works, what impediments we might face trying to learn at work and what we can do to affect change. The interactive part really engaged lots of people to share, so we had even more insight into how things are currently not working at organizations when it comes to learning. Overall, awesome keynote, well presented and giving us lots of actionable food for thought.</li>
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<li>Workshop "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/software-for-future/" target="_blank">Software for Future</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/juttaeckstein/" target="_blank">Jutta Eckstein</a>. This was a great combo session, giving us space to learn more about sustainability topics (like the 3 pillars model of people, planet and profit) and especially where we currently are on this journey ourselves - as individuals, our teams, our organizations. Lots of great conversations about how software can come to the rescue yet is not always as helpful as we might want to believe. Electronic waste, underutilized hardware, apps that exclude people by design, and more. We all could have a look at our own usage of technology, as well as take a survey to gauge where our team and organization is when it comes to sustainability. Awesome input to take back to work and start conversations there as well!</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/trouble-in-the-old-republic/" target="_blank">Trouble in The Old Republic</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-nitsche-457ba3158/" target="_blank">Samuel Nitsche</a>. Wow - this was simply amazing. Standing ovations were well deserved! So many things I loved about this keynote. First of all, Sam turned this into a real stage acting performance, including costumes, props and side characters. He preceded the talk with a disclaimer how he's about to tell this story and where he might exaggerate to make a point. He also made use of the big stage to address current world problems and make a clear stance on prioritizing the most vulnerable - kudos! On top of that, I loved this keynote's emphasis on collaboration as well as the food for thought to find and build our own unicorn land, plus reaching something that's similar enough to our dreams. Just wow.</li>
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</ul><div>The evening was not over yet, after having some food there was also a first live event for <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/pepes-bar-live/">Pepe's Bar</a>, and my dear friends <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/toyer-mamoojee-595356a4/" target="_blank">Toyer Mamoojee</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a> and I had the honor to be <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/josediazberlin/" target="_blank">José Díaz</a>'s guests for the evening. A conversation on various topics, more casual than <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLynFqaQaGS-jWsvSElgfFFkuwjivpjAwh" target="_blank">previous episodes</a> - check them out if you haven't seen them yet.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pepe’s bar about to kick off with host <a href="https://twitter.com/jdiaz_berlin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jdiaz_berlin</a> and with my friends <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jrosaproenca</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PowerLearningGroup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PowerLearningGroup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> <a href="https://t.co/kadyCNxkZt">pic.twitter.com/kadyCNxkZt</a></p>— Toyer M (@tottiLFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/tottiLFC/status/1595497416748417025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pepe's Bar with it's very first live edition right at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> <br />Today's guests are <a href="https://twitter.com/tottiLFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tottiLFC</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jrosaproenca</a> <br />Hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/jdiaz_berlin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jdiaz_berlin</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDZone?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDZone</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agile?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agile</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/testing?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#testing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/community?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#community</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/learning?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#learning</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/chattingwithfriends?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#chattingwithfriends</a> <a href="https://t.co/ciZPiB9Msk">pic.twitter.com/ciZPiB9Msk</a></p>— Stefanie Mania #AgileTD #AgileTDUSA (@StefanieMania) <a href="https://twitter.com/StefanieMania/status/1595502108966780928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><div>Afterwards it was time to finally meet my other pairing partner for this conference, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-krishnan-0934007/" target="_blank">Shiva Krishnan</a>. So good to meet again in person after a long period! And also it was time for us to do a last dry run before our talk the next day.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Thursday</h2><div>The last conference day came - as you can imagine, more great sessions and conversations.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/building-quality-influence-observability-and-you/" target="_blank">Building Quality - Influence, Observability and You</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/parveen-khan/" target="_blank">Parveen Khan</a>. I had the honor to have listened to a dry run of this talk a few weeks ago and was eager to see the final version live on stage, especially as it was Parveen's first keynote. Unfortunately, I overslept exactly on this last conference day and hence missed the first part. I reconstructed the sketchnote from memory yet fear I couldn't do Parveen's talk justice. About her keynote: I loved Parveen's vulnerability and openness of sharing her failure story along with the reflection that went into it and what she did afterwards to get to a better place. It's so authentic, relatable and truly inspiring! It also gave tangible things every one of us can do to find our own style of influencing. This was awesome.</li>
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<li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/human-connection-the-key-to-a-beneficial-pairing-experience/" target="_blank">Human Connection: The Key to a Beneficial Pairing Experience</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-krishnan-0934007/" target="_blank">Shiva Krishnan</a> and me. Both Shiva and I were quite uncertain how this brand-new talk will land with people. Will it resonate? Will people get something out of it they can act on right away? Judging from the feedback it did, so you can imagine our relief afterwards. Also, special thanks to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/clare-norman/" target="_blank">Clare Norman</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobias-geyer-728ba1252/" target="_blank">Tobias Geyer</a> for live <a href="https://twitter.com/ClareCatherine6/status/1595715990750470144" target="_blank">tweeting</a> and <a href="https://hachyderm.io/@the_qa_guy/109398162617091165" target="_blank">tooting</a>! Our <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/lisihocke/human-connection-the-key-to-a-beneficial-pairing-experience-agile-testing-days-2022" target="_blank">slides</a> are publicly available now as well.</li>
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<li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/the-silver-bullet-a-tools-tale/" target="_blank">The Silver Bullet - a tools tale</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/wassard/" target="_blank">Søren Wassard</a>. Great talk about a topic that's coming up so many times: which tool to use? Well, as Søren said - it depends. There's so many tools out there. It's not sufficient to jump at any, there are more aspects to consider. I really liked his viewpoint of growing our professional skills first before considering choosing a tool. Also, I really loved the storytelling and presentation style, very enjoyable.</li>
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<li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/better-organisation-design-enables-great-testing/" target="_blank">Better organisation design enables great testing</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ash-winter-7a435614/" target="_blank">Ash Winter</a>. I loved this keynote - content-wise and presentation-wise. I feel the need to spread these topics more at testing conferences where people might not yet have had opportunity to come across architecture and organizational design topics. Team topologies, Conway's Law, diving into platform teams, and more. I really liked seeing the strong emphasis on how testers can be a crucial part and have power to influence a better organization! I related to it very much based on my own experience.</li>
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<li>Workshop "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/react-testing-and-chess/" target="_blank">React, Testing and Chess</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/devidcillo/" target="_blank">David Corrales</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelapluas/" target="_blank">Pamela Plúas</a>. This was a great space to experience and practice testing a React app ourselves. Despite us facing struggles when setting things up, this workshop still provided a lot. I really liked the presented four different approaches focusing our testing on different parts of the frontend: from unit tests to component tests to subcutaneous tests to finally contract tests (more people need to learn about this!). David and Pamela provided us with a full running demo project we can also use to practice further, love it. Really appreciated their consideration for participants' needs and also their disclaimer that context is crucial and their recommendations might change for a different project with different needs. I really think we need more of these technical hands-on workshops where we can practice deliberately in a context that's close enough to our everyday work.</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/servant-leadership-about-empathy-and-psychological-safety/" target="_blank">Servant Leadership – about empathy and psychological safety</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pvanenkhuijzen/" target="_blank">Patrick van Enkhuijzen</a>. I've seen this keynote at <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/05/agiletd-open-air-2022-a-unicorn-conference-outdoors.html" target="_blank">AgileTD Open Air</a> already as well. Also for this talk it was great seeing how it evolved and improved based on feedback received - for example including the host leadership model. I really appreciated the disclaimer of "this is how I see servant leadership and why it resonates with me" as well as the key message to include serving yourself first as otherwise we cannot be of help to anyone else.</li>
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</ul>It was a wrap! The official part of the conference was over. After more conversations in the hallway over food I seized the opportunity to head out to Potsdam with a small group. Many thanks to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandraschladebeck/" target="_blank">Alex Schladebeck</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezagroba/" target="_blank">Elizabeth Zagroba</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-proen%C3%A7a-ba864357/" target="_blank">João Proença</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/micha-kutz/" target="_blank">Micha Kutz</a> for this special finale.</div><div><br /></div><div>Returning to the hotel, I chose to stay in the lobby and continue conversations with all people still around. More and more had to say goodbye, it's always a bitter-sweet ending to an event we all appreciate a lot.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Friday</h2><div>It was time for me to head home. As every year, this means for me also starting to look back, process and digest all the things I've heard, all the connections I've made or strengthened, and follow up on my own sessions. It also means starting to look ahead on what to do next with the gained insights, what to bring back to my company and team, and what to take on in my personal development. Maybe catch up on a few more talks I've missed, thanks to the recordings. Maybe delve into <a href="https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP3APwTEk3dSjy0kBPA5r1JM2I9-TFFQlyREZdTiX_kL1QtRN_mjqd88FrsIm7lzw?key=SldlYXRqalVKTS1NSTZ0VklTdlg4UC1NTnZQd29B" target="_blank">photo memories</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>One more thing why joining conferences, and also speaking at conferences is great: you never know which impact any session or just conversation might have on humans and what their journey might look like because of it. Like the feedback <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezagroba/" target="_blank">Elizabeth Zagroba</a> received on a ensemble session we gave two years ago together with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joepschuurkes/" target="_blank">Joep Schuurkes</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonberner/" target="_blank">Simon Berner</a>.</div>
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<div><br /></div><div>For now, I'll enjoy some time off to properly recharge batteries and close this year with fresh energy before starting the next. Many thanks to everyone involved in this event that made it a memorable time - organizers, volunteers, speakers, participants, everyone. It's been a blast.</div>
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Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-83718699631922715072022-11-06T22:12:00.002+01:002022-11-08T01:09:56.152+01:00Mastodon Lessons Learned<div style="text-align: left;">Why even write about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon_(software)" target="_blank">Mastodon</a> if so many other people already posted awesome guidelines? That was my initial thinking and reasoning not to write this post. However, when I realized I received more and more questions on how I use Mastodon and what I learned so far, I decided to write it anyway. You never know whom it might help, especially these days. So here it goes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Why writing about social platforms here?</h2><div><a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2016/12/leap-in-the-dark.html" target="_blank">Twitter was massively influential for me</a>, my growth, my career. And with "Twitter" I mean the people and community I've found on this platform. It encouraged me to learn more, being intrinsically motivated. It encouraged me to interact with the community for the first time (super scary for me - even a like or retweet, not even talking about commenting or posting a tweet on my own). It encouraged me to join my first conference! Thanks to that first conference, I started meeting so many people in real life, and building my network. Which again encouraged me to start speaking at conferences and blogging and sharing in general. And so on. So yes, Twitter was and is massively influential for me as a platform.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Twitter, Mastodon, why a new platform?</h2><div>Well. With the recent changes at Twitter (both in management as well as the massive layoffs that followed), no one knows how long this social platform might be available to us in a bearable format anymore. While I personally built a lot on this platform for myself, I was finally facing the fact that I needed to look for alternatives. I've tried lots of other social media platforms in the past, yet nothing gelled with me as much as Twitter did. This meant that moving my focus to one of the other platforms I already knew, like LinkedIn, just wouldn't work as they don't fulfill my needs (while LinkedIn fulfills another purpose for me, it just never could be an alternative for my Twitter-like activities). Hence, I decided to give new platforms a try. The one that I ended up with was the one that lots of people already talked about: Mastodon. As many others I've experienced friction there in the beginning. And yet I decided to stay, as it came as close to fulfilling my "Twitter" needs as nothing else did so far. And I just love seeing so many awesome people from various communities I'm part of being already there or also giving this platform a try these days. We'll see what happens in the future.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">What did I learn so far that helped me?</h2><div>A word of caution upfront: I've only been on Mastodon now for a bit more than one week, so this is written from a newbie perspective. I'm pretty sure I've missed things and I'm still learning.</div><p>A few things I've learned so far that help me. Okay, it's a bunch of things, the list grew quite big. Sharing all of these in case it's helpful for others as well, not knowing who's aware of what already.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Language and terminology is both similar and different to Twitter. </b>There are Mastodon-specific terms, like "instance". Instance is the place you choose to create your account on. Twitter offers you just one entry to their platform, Mastodon is hosted decentralized on lots of different instances run by different people. So your handle will always also include the instance you're on, e.g. "@lisihocke@mastodon.social". More regarding language: there are similar concepts, yet using different words. For example, your tweets are called "toots" on Mastodon, likes are "favorites", retweets are "boosts". Some words look the same yet have very different meaning. For example, direct messages are not privat as such, just directed and visible to the mentioned users.</li><li><b>Choosing an instance.</b> Just <a href="https://joinmastodon.org/" target="_blank">choose any instance</a> as playground, check out how Mastodon works, then (maybe) make a better choice before posting anything. My personal story here: Choosing an instance intimidated me for months, hence I postponed the creation of my account until the day that Twitter was actually bought. In the end I made the decision to just do it and go with the biggest instance: <a href="https://mastodon.social/" target="_blank">mastodon.social</a>. Why? First, to make a decision, finally (and one other person I knew chose that instance as well, couldn't be so bad I thought). Second, to have a handle that is neutral enough for all kinds of audiences. Third, I have many different interests and didn't want to limit myself, and it would have made the choice again too hard to even take action. Hence, I ended up where I still am. I know I can move instances any time yet really don't want to - especially now that I know my posts won't move with me, only my followers would. Interestingly, I only realized after joining that having lots of people there actually can help with visibility of things and it might have helped to reduce the initial friction I perceived. And yes I know, having lots of people there means it can be super slow under the load, and yes it's run by a company - yet for now I do support their endeavors. One of the most important things I totally neglected at that time: find an instance where you like the administration and moderation rules. They are just way too important.</li><li><b>You won't see everything from every instance.</b> This platform is really decentralized and federated. Every instance can only show you what it knows about already, e.g. information about a certain account. For example, you will see an account's follower count as the overall count it is, let's say nine followers. Yet you won't usually see all followers of a user on your instance as this instance is not aware of all of them. That means, the list only shows let's say four follower accounts instead of the nine overall. A mismatch I really needed to digest first and be okay to live with!</li><li><b>Different clients really make a different user experience.</b> The following ones are the best ones I've found so far and I'm using them for different purposes. There are a few more for mobile and web - try them out and see what works best for you.</li><ul><li><a href="https://fedilab.app/" target="_blank">Fedilab</a> on Android: paid, yet was really worth the money as it's fulfilling most of the needs I have, like a shortcut to view the timelines of my lists of people to follow on top. For now, I'm using this one nearly all of my time.</li><li><a href="https://tusky.app/" target="_blank">Tusky</a> on Android: a nice Android app with lots of features, really liked it better than the official Mastodon Android app.</li><li><a href="https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/preferences/" target="_blank">Advanced web view</a>. You can activate it in your preferences. It really reminds me nicely of Tweetdeck that I loved using long time ago. One downside: if the instance is under too much load, it's often just too slow to use due to too many requests being sent.</li></ul><li><b>Configure your preferences, especially two-factor authentication. </b>Yes, there's lots of settings, make yourself familiar with them and adapt them to your needs. Each client also have their own options they offer. One thing I'd recommend anywhere: set up your two-factor authentication for increased security of your account.</li><li><b>Everything is public, so treat everything that way.</b> This is probably one of the main things to really internalize. Toots have different visibility levels and can also be "direct" to those mentioned so only they see them, yet are never really private. Hence, there are no real private conversations. And if you include any handles from others they will get notified. Just treat everything as public, don't share anything sensitive or confidential. Probably good advice for any social platform.</li><li><b>Hashtags are the only way to find things.</b> So hashtags it is all over again! Like it was for Twitter back in the days. Including in your profile bio. And yes, really - you cannot search for anything else in posts, only for hashtags. You have 500 characters available per toot, make good use of them.</li><li><b>Fill your profile right away. </b>Adding a profile bio and meta description really helps with people deciding if they'd like to follow you or not (as it is on other platforms as well). Do this right after the account creation before starting following others or posting. Don't forget to add hashtags here as well.</li><li><b>Introduce yourself to the instance.</b> An #introduction post helps people on the instance find you. I saw this tip and people doing it, so tried it myself - indeed worked nicely.</li><li><b>Strategies for finding people.</b> Especially if you'd like to rebuild networks on Mastodon here's what helped me.</li><ul><li>I started with checking who people I've already found on Mastodon follow themselves. Could find lots of people already this way.</li><li>Many people use their same username on both Twitter and Mastodon, so directly searching revealed further people.</li><li>Then I used the mobile Twitter client to search for #mastodon and filter the results for people I follow, ordering by latest. Again, more people identified.</li><li>There are tools to help you see who of the people you follow on Twitter are also on Mastodon. I've used <a href="https://fedifinder.glitch.me/" target="_blank">Fedifinder</a>, worked like a charm. For making it easier for other people to find you the same way, add your Mastodon account to your Twitter bio, location, link or name.</li></ul><li><b>Know how to follow people on other instances.</b> No, you don't have to sign up to each instance separately, you can follow them from your instance even if they are on a different one. Doing so is not as intuitive though. The prerequisite is that you need to be authenticated in your own instance. If you use the mobile apps this usually works better as we're staying in the same context. Yet if you use the web interface, this means you cannot just open an account in a new tab and follow the account from there - as that one is then not authenticated. You have to access the account in the same tab. You can also make use of the search box to search for the full handle (including the instance), e.g. "@lisihocke@mastodon.social", or their profile link, e.g. "https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke" to find that account and follow it. Or just add the handle to the base url of your instance, e.g. "https://<yourInstanceBaseUrl>/@lisihocke@mastodon.social".</li><li><b>Make use of lists.</b> I use lists on Twitter heavily to filter for content from people I follow actively (never cared about my home stream), so I was thrilled to see this feature available on Mastodon as well. So once again I'm working with lists of people I follow more closely, not the full home stream - just like I always did on Twitter. Hence it doesn't matter to me as much if I wouldn't find people easily on my local instance, I find them in different ways. One thing that's nagging me here a bit: you can only add people to lists if they accepted you as follower, not before. I often follow and instantly add to lists, yet well, have to live with this. Also, currently <a href="https://docs.joinmastodon.org/methods/timelines/lists/" target="_blank">lists are only visible to you</a> - there's an <a href="https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/8208" target="_blank">open feature request to make lists publicly visible</a> and hence sharable with others.</li><li><b>Being kind to people usually helps.</b> Like saying thank you for them following you. I've built that habit on Twitter early on when I started there and never stopped - so I'm not going to stop that now on that different platform. So far, it already resulted in nice initial conversations.</li><li><b>Add notes for accounts.</b> You can add notes to each account that are only visible to you. Again, everything is public, yet this feature still helps me work around a few things. Like: helping my brain remember who this person was again if they did not provide a photo, bio or handle that reveals that to me. Or, taking note if I already thanked that person for following me as I cannot as easily find the previous interaction again (unlike on Twitter).</li><li><b>There's no algorithm, timelines are just that - time-based.</b> If you like something, go ahead and "favorite" it. The author will be able to see you liked it. If you like something and would like to share it with others to see it as well, "boost" the message. The boosted post will also appear in your own profile as a message that you boosted.</li><li><b>Consider accessibility as you post.</b> As hashtags are the only way to find posts, make sure to write them in Pascal Case so they are more easily read by both humans and screen readers (example: #ThisIsComprehensibleAsSeperateWords). Add alt texts for images and media. You can also define the language you posted that toot in which again helps tools and people to navigate your post.</li><li><b>Add content warnings.</b> This is another great feature built into Mastodon. By adding content warnings you give people the option to decide if they'd like to learn more or not! Very useful for any kind of potentially triggering content, yet also for e.g. not revealing spoilers, announcing marketing, and more.</li><li><b>Threads are similar and different.</b> To create a thread, you can post your first toot first and then reply to it. Or you have an interface that allows you to instantly prepare and post them all together. In any case, the resulting thread is always a reply to the previous toot.</li><li><b>There are tools to cross-post between Mastodon and Twitter.</b> I personally don't use them, I prefer deciding myself what to share where. It's good to know they exist, though, and you will see people using them.</li><li><b>You can export and import data.</b> For example, you can get csv files of your lists and similar. You can also request your archive including your toots and more. I haven't tried the import functionality yet; it seemed to work nicely with the <a href="https://fedifinder.glitch.me/" target="_blank">Fedifinder</a> output to follow people you've already followed before on Twitter.</li><li><b>Look under the hood and make use of the API.</b> Interacting with the web interface, I mostly had developer tools open watching requests. Especially in times of high load, it's super helpful to see what actually happened and if my latest action succeeded or ran into e.g. a gateway timeout. I realized not all Mastodon users have experience in tech. Personally, I found it really helpful to have that experience when learning the system and Mastodon hence also intrigued my tester me. One thing that I really appreciate is that <a href="https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon" target="_blank">Mastodon is open source</a>, you can go check out how it's actually implemented, suggest features, report issues, even contribute yourself. The <a href="https://docs.joinmastodon.org/" target="_blank">documentation</a> and especially <a href="https://docs.joinmastodon.org/methods/accounts/" target="_blank">API documentation</a> is great too. When things are slow and I wanted to make bulk changes, I just used the API to do so directly with less waiting time. Like adding accounts to my lists, or adding private notes to accounts.</li><li><b>Expect errors and be patient.</b> It's open source, it's run by lots of volunteers in their free time (or people working for non-profits), it's software in general. Expecting errors and learning how the system works help. For example, I have email notifications active. When I receive a notification, e.g. that I have a new follower, the related link to go to their account does not work and leads to an error page. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist! I take the email notification as hint to go and check my notifications directly in the user interface. Also, having patience helps. Loading times can be long at times when instances are under heavy load (e.g. because people are currently creating a new presence there - and yes, I'm on the most loaded instance). Sometimes having to wait for something can also be a good thing though and make interactions more intentional. Sometimes it also really takes time to load data between different instances and they might run into gateway timeouts - again, patience and trying it again pays off. Don't let an error screen scare you off. Looking under the hood again can help a lot with realizing what's going on.</li><li><b>Yes, it's not Twitter, and that's a good thing.</b> Even if Mastodon still feels like Twitter a lot to me personally (especially like Twitter in the former days, where I also had to learn how this tool works and how it doesn't). So yes, Mastodon does fulfill the needs that previously Twitter met for me. Hence I've decided to invest into my presence at Mastodon as well. I'm not leaving the bird app yet (didn't leave many other networks either). Still, I'm now building up another social network I can cling to if Twitter really goes completely downhill.</li></ul><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Any other helpful resources?</h2><div>There are awesome guidelines out there. Here are a few that helped me understand Mastodon better.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://axbom.com/mastodon-tips/" target="_blank">10 quick Mastodon tips</a></li><li><a href="https://jayasinghe.de/post/mastodon/" target="_blank">Moving from Twitter to Mastodon</a></li><li><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/7/15183128/mastodon-open-source-twitter-clone-how-to-use" target="_blank">A beginner’s guide to Mastodon, the hot new open-source Twitter clone</a></li><li><a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/783akg/mastodon-is-like-twitter-without-nazis-so-why-are-we-not-using-it" target="_blank">Mastodon Is Like Twitter Without Nazis, So Why Are We Not Using It?</a></li><li><a href="https://wordsmith.social/elilla/a-futuristic-mastodon-introduction-for-2021" target="_blank">A futuristic Mastodon introduction for 2021</a></li><li><a href="https://fedi.tips/" target="_blank">Fedi.Tips</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/nolanlawson/resources-for-mastodon-newbies" target="_blank">Resources for Mastodon newbies</a></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">A few final remarks!</h2><div>I've been on this platform for a bit more than a week and I expected it to take time to rebuild networks - yet I'm seeing lots of lovely people there already. I also knew I could not expect the same engagement as I've seen on Twitter - yet surprisingly many people interacted with me and my posts already. And they did in a kind, insightful and constructive way I really appreciate. So who knows which positive surprise is up next!</div><div><br /></div><div>What now for you? Well, that's up to you. Here's my Mastodon account in case you'd like to check it out: <a href="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke" target="_blank">@lisihocke@mastodon.social</a> Maybe see you there! :)</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="mastodon-embed" height="300" src="https://mastodon.social/@lisihocke/109293808761562066/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="400"></iframe>
Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-26054076192096457772022-09-05T10:22:00.004+02:002022-09-05T10:25:55.105+02:00SoCraTes 2022 - A Welcoming Community of People Learning Together<p>Over years, various people recommended me to join a <a href="https://www.socrates-conference.de/" target="_blank">SoCraTes</a> conference, especially the main German edition. They said it would be right up my alley and I'd love it there. I indeed loved the idea of software crafting and testing coming together. Still, I hesitated. This conference is designed as an open space, an unconference. The agenda and anything that happens or doesn't happen is decided by the participants. They build the conference. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy this format, it's amazing to see its magic happening. My hesitation came from a different place: I am fortunate to be able to visit several conferences a year, thanks to me speaking at them and hence making use of the deal I have with my company. If there's no speaking engagement, though, I would need to take vacation, money, energy etc. on my own budget.</p><p>This year, my hesitation was resolved and I made it to my first on-site <a href="https://www.socrates-conference.de/" target="_blank">SoCraTes</a> in Soltau. The SoCraTes people ran an experiment to bring experienced people and new joiners together and cover re-occurring topics in a "<a href="https://www.socrates-conference.de/foundations" target="_blank">Foundations Day</a>" before the open space starts. I was one of the lucky trainers to be invited to give a session on this day, which then also allowed me to experience the rest of the conference. Problem solved, here I come!</p><p>There's another reason why I was fortunate this way. For SoCraTes, you don't just go buy a ticket - instead you apply for one. The lottery will decide whether you get the chance or not. Why that? To intentionally build a diverse space where not only the same people return every year and no one else has a chance to break in. It allows for a good mix of people to meet. As a trainer for Foundations Day, I had my place already safe and didn't have to worry about my lottery luck.</p><p>Therefore: special thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/w3ltraumpirat" target="_blank">Tobias Göschel</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/tdpauw" target="_blank">Thierry de Pauw</a> for inviting me! And overall huge thank you to all the organizers - this conference is community-driven, all of them are volunteers, and they did an outstanding job.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">When people ask me how to get the most out of an Open Space, I say: „By trusting the system and your intuition. Be prepared to be surprised.“<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a></p>— Niklas Lochschmidt (@Niklas_L) <a href="https://twitter.com/Niklas_L/status/1562692830354886657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Day of Arrival</h2><p>The train ride to Soltau gave me time to prepare. I brainstormed topics I'd like to propose at the open space, or sessions I'd like to join or pull. I already had my list of personal goals ready that I wanted to aim for during this conference.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Connecting with the crafter community: building further bridges with regards to testing and quality, especially beyond people already in my network</li><li>Practice coding: I really strive for more practice and felt it would be an awesome place to hone my skills further</li><li>Discover something new: this is always something I'm looking for, and it never left me disappointed</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;">In the evening, I arrived just in time for dinner with the community. Meeting some of the people in real life for the first time was amazing, as always! Especially <a href="https://twitter.com/tdpauw" target="_blank">Thierry de Pauw</a> whom I've spoken so much with over the last years.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Over dinner, I realized I was not the only one joining this conference for the first time. Later on, we realized lots of people were new joiners indeed, based on recommendations they chose to give this conference a try. Was really great to see.</p><p style="text-align: left;">In the beginning, things were still a bit new, strange and even stiff; as it often is for me these days when suddenly seeing lots of people in real life. Within a short period of time I could loosen up, though. The more people I got to know, the more I relaxed and felt at ease.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Foundations Day & World Café</h2><div><p style="text-align: left;">The Foundations Day format was an experiment by the organizers, the first of its kind. I can already share I loved it. Not only from a speaker's point of view, but also from a new joiner's point of view. It was a day with less people and hence a smaller crowd to get used to. A day covered with fundamental topics without them being too basic, so I learned a lot even with topics I knew about. A day where we had a schedule set in advance, which took away the uncertainty of what would happen. A day to get to know people a bit already.
</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I think that the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FoundationDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FoundationDay</a> can be a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/source?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#source</a> of ideas/subjects during the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/unconference?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#unconference</a> for newcomers. So 👏 organisation<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a></p>— Dorra Bartaguiz (@DorraBartaguiz) <a href="https://twitter.com/DorraBartaguiz/status/1564150318358740992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><p style="text-align: left;">One word ahead: This conference is all about inclusion and crafting a welcoming space where people feel safe, that they belong and can be themselves. This included not only free rapid Covid tests each day for everyone, yet also wearing masks indoors - led by example through the organizers, and implemented by nearly everyone of the participants as well. Kudos to all of you!</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Step 1 before entering <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> ✅ Organizers really do make everything to make everybody feel save. Code of conduct, inclusive language, Conference Buddy,photo policy.. <a href="https://t.co/9V1S109OaO">pic.twitter.com/9V1S109OaO</a></p>— Martin (he/him) (@md42) <a href="https://twitter.com/md42/status/1562894143096909824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><p style="text-align: left;">Back to the Foundations Day. Here are the sessions I've joined.</p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>"<a href="https://www.socrates-conference.de/foundations/abstract/tdd_foundations" target="_blank">TDD Foundations</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/emilybache" target="_blank">Emily Bache</a>. Test Driven Development is one of those fundamental "classics" on conferences that I've rarely seen even mentioned in every day work. Yet when I practice it hands-on myself, I really enjoy the thinking and working in many small steps, aiming for just enough, having the final design emerge and maybe surprise us. It really fits well to me and my personal endeavor to reduce cognitive load whenever I can. Some great insights from this session: "Learning TDD is a way to reduce your delivery cadence. If you're aiming for short delivery cycles you need these short development cycles, too." Or Emily's emphasis on using tooling, like refactoring support our IDEs offer. Or that for existing tests she would never reverse test assertions to see if tests can fail, only deliberately write wrong code to make them fail - <a href="https://twitter.com/malk_zameth" target="_blank">Romeu Moura</a>, another trainer, instead would. Also, I just love Emily's teaching style. I've not only learned more about TDD as such, yet also on a meta level gained ideas and inspiration on how to facilitate sessions. How she used her Miro board when presenting, how she used a video recording of her doing a kata and added her narration, how she used the "yes and" principle with critiquing feedback from the audience and in general navigated this in a very constructive way.</li><li>"<a href="https://www.socrates-conference.de/foundations/abstract/golden_master" target="_blank">Legacy code: Add a reliable test harness (quickly) and refactor!</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/michelle_avomo" target="_blank">Michelle Avomo</a>. Given legacy code without tests, Michelle demonstrated how we can make use of golden master tests to gain understanding. She warned though that this approach is only a tool, these snapshot tests are often not reliable and fragile as any new change will break your test, even if not relevant. Once you understand what you want to do, you can move to other types of tests. Michelle also emphasized: "The tests are our first clients" and "Do not modify any production code that is not covered by tests". Wise words!</li><li>"<a href="https://www.socrates-conference.de/foundations/abstract/refactoring" target="_blank">Refactoring for Deeper Understanding</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/NicoleRauch" target="_blank">Nicole Rauch</a>. When we encounter existing code, it might be hard to comprehend. Refactoring to the rescue! Nicole presented an implementation of a simple method. She asked people what problems they see and how we can improve things (for example, by introducing types). She had great list of questions that the method left open to answer. These unclarities would make any code change difficult and even dangerous. After refactoring, she checked it against her initial questions to see if this version is indeed better - a validating feedback loop. Like Emily, Nicole also demonstrated how to use the refactoring options our IDEs offer us to make changes faster and safer. Also, she emphasized that refactoring does not mean big changes at once. We can just complete this one small step, commit and push. A huge refactoring can be done in very small steps - it does not mean detaching yourself from the main branch! So let's break it down to tiny steps, as tiny as possible.</li><li>"<a href="https://www.socrates-conference.de/foundations/abstract/property_based_testing" target="_blank">Different ways of using Property Based testing in your code next Monday</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/malk_zameth" target="_blank">Romeu Moura</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/DorraBartaguiz" target="_blank">Dorra Bartaguiz</a>. I've been in a few sessions about property-based testing before, yet only now I've finally got a grasp on the concept! Really loved the demonstration in steps and the explanations added by Romeu and Dorra. We have a hypothesis about our implementation and place a bet that our implementation, i.e. our understanding of the business rules, is correct. In our test we only define this rule, not any input. The property-based testing framework now tries to find a suitable input value to prove us wrong, a counterexample! Input is generated randomly based on given criteria, and hundred tests are run against the hypothesis with different input values. It might all be good for a few runs, until the framework detects the case that is not supported by our implementation. In this scenario, a green test run means "I have not proved you wrong yet", a red one instead "gotcha". And in both cases we're happy as we learned! Very interesting to note as well: these test runs are extremely fast and cheap. Romeu and Dorra encouraged us to take it and try it ourselves with one test on a legacy code base - it's quick and we can discover interesting things.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Property Based Testing session with <a href="https://twitter.com/malk_zameth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@malk_zameth</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> <br />Thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/houssamfakih?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@houssamfakih</a> for the photo <a href="https://t.co/EKeB7radGr">pic.twitter.com/EKeB7radGr</a></p>— Dorra Bartaguiz (@DorraBartaguiz) <a href="https://twitter.com/DorraBartaguiz/status/1563094206918193153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://www.socrates-conference.de/foundations/abstract/ensemble_exploratory_testing" target="_blank">Ensemble Exploratory Testing</a>" by me. A session that I've given many times for many different audiences - seems it's quite a timeless one where there's a lot of demand for. I've been asked to re-do it during the open space as well, so I did. Overall, it was once again fascinating to see how much people can learn in short time when they bring their knowledge and skills together, even if the single parts (like ensembling, exploratory testing, API testing, a legacy system, unknown people, etc.) are completely new to them.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Just finished my "Ensemble Exploratory Testing" session at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> - I had a blast and hope participants took a lot with them! 😃 At least I observed lots of learning in such short time. Overall the Foundations Day was awesome with so many great people - recommended! ✨</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1562846022895689728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;">In the evening, we enjoyed a lovely dinner with great conversations. Yet that was not the end of the day's program. More people had already arrived for the main part of the conference. To set the scene, a World Café was hosted by the wonderful <a href="https://twitter.com/Singsalad" target="_blank">Juke</a>, getting all of us connected to SoCraTes and each other. How it worked? We had three rounds, a new question each round. For each group, one stays at the same place while all others look for a new group to join. The one who stays welcomes the new people and shares what the previous group had talked about. Usually this is supported by taking notes and drawing on flip charts or similar means. As I had my session at the end of Foundations Day, I got a bit late to dinner and hence also to the World Café. Didn't matter, I could simply join in towards the end of the first round. I picked a table, and was positively surprised - <a href="https://twitter.com/kriscorbus" target="_blank">Kris Corbus</a> was there! Just loved seeing Kris again after many years, I didn't expect this happy encounter at this conference. Overall, the World Café was great to get to know more people, realizing how many are indeed new joiners, and having a few familiar faces more for the next days.
</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> WorldCafe setting the spirit for tomorrows OpenSpace Start <a href="https://t.co/ShWj94N5XU">pic.twitter.com/ShWj94N5XU</a></p>— Martin (he/him) (@md42) <a href="https://twitter.com/md42/status/1562887191025823745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2022</a></blockquote></div><div><br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Open Space - Day 1</h2><div><p style="text-align: left;">The main part of the conference started! Juke once again was an amazing moderator, introducing us to the conference space as an intentionally welcoming and including safe space, as well as getting everyone familiar with the concept of an open space unconference. In short: we build the agenda we want to see! And that's what happened. It's fascinating how you can really trust in the system. The queues to briefly present the proposed topics were really long, and the emerging schedule looked amazing. So many awesome topics representing a great mixture ranging from hexagonal architecture to philosophy, from hiring to graphical visualization, from nail polishing to spikeball over lunch, from asking for support to debug a problem to example mapping - the list continues. And lots of people were contributing.
</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The queue of attendees presenting their session is MASSIVE! You can tell we have been waiting for another <a href="https://twitter.com/SoCraTes_Conf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SoCraTes_Conf</a> for three years. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/zX1YeQksir">pic.twitter.com/zX1YeQksir</a></p>— Markus Tacker (he/him) 💙💛 🇳🇴 (@coderbyheart) <a href="https://twitter.com/coderbyheart/status/1563065904971128832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hi-Res pictures from left to right of day one of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> open-space: <a href="https://t.co/AFwTuZaWUX">pic.twitter.com/AFwTuZaWUX</a></p>— Markus Tacker (he/him) 💙💛 🇳🇴 (@coderbyheart) <a href="https://twitter.com/coderbyheart/status/1563100104474918913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><p style="text-align: left;">Here is how I designed my day.</p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>"The Practices that Make Continuous Integration" by <a href="https://twitter.com/tdpauw" target="_blank">Thierry de Pauw</a>. Thierry is currently crafting a new talk and wanted to do a very first raw dry run. I knew about the talk as I've also reviewed his abstract proposal to submit it to conferences, and was keen on hearing the first version. As this was a dry run I won't spoil its content here, yet I can say I really enjoyed it! And the practices mentioned give lots of food for thought on how we can achieve an always working state providing fast feedback. Also, it was super cool to see Thierry run this experimental raw version of his talk, even without access to his first notes. Super courageous, I loved this demonstration of how "good enough" can generate value and early feedback. Can't wait for the final conference talk.</li><li>During the second slot of the day, I took it slowly. I was late from the first one anyway, and as I've been asked to re-do my ensemble exploratory testing session it was a good moment to prepare for it. So, I sat down in the kitchen area, prepared, and as things usually go at conferences and especially open spaces, people came by, joined me for great conversations, and we went for lunch together.</li><li>"Dedicated Tester - Never worked with one? How could this be effective? Ask me Anything" by me. Having talked with a few people at the conference, I realized I didn't encounter too many people identifying themselves with the testing and quality space. Also, one of my personal goals was to foster bridges and communication. And on top I wanted to get myself out of my comfort zone and try new things - like giving a session I could not prepare for. Long story short, I proposed this "ask me anything" session and was fascinated by how many people joined me and how many questions they asked. Among them also <a href="https://twitter.com/3r1c_p" target="_blank">Eric Proegler</a> who could provide yet another viewpoint to the conversation. We talked about testing as an activity, what we're aiming for, how this can look like every day, pairing and ensembling, power dynamics, and more. It also ended up with continued conversations over dinner, or later on people approaching me with "oh are you the tester?" Guess there weren't many others after all (yet!).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">With <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> talking about how she helps teams as a dedicated tester <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/FvJPYnanZA">pic.twitter.com/FvJPYnanZA</a></p>— ᴇʀɪᴄ ᴩʀᴏᴇɢʟᴇʀ (@3r1c_p) <a href="https://twitter.com/3r1c_p/status/1563141414162436097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"Improve Learning Culture" by Stefan Boos. This was an interesting session and exchange on how to foster a learning culture. It's a recurring challenge at many companies indeed. We brainstormed how to increase the number of peers taking time to learn together and how to respond to critics who question the benefit for the business or don't want to discuss at all but tell their opinion. Lots of great people to exchange thoughts with, quite a few things to take back and try out at work. For example, we talked about internal communities, explicit policies, sharing stories and celebrate learning, ensembling, framing as experiments, how we can measure success, that it's in the end about money and what drives people.</li><li>"Blind ensemble" by <a href="https://twitter.com/malk_zameth" target="_blank">Romeu Moura</a>. What a great way to deliberately practice effective communication and collaboration! I've always been inspired by the many ways Romeu uses constraints to practice pairing and ensembling. This time I could experience one of them: only the person at the keyboard saw the code (in this case, Romeu himself). Everyone else had to communicate by voice. In the middle of the exercise, he also took away visual cues by not having the rest of the ensemble see the person at the keyboard. It was fascinating to observe the dynamics. It was communication on a higher level, the details of the programming language used did not really matter (wasn't even shared or asked for) as the driver at the keyboard transcribed it. Also, the driver did not have any means to "write their influence", aka trying to write something ahead of the conversation and wait for people to complain. We usually rely a lot on tools to enhance cognition, yet in this exercise we don't have that, also personal notes are invisible. Getting lost is expensive in general and gets way more expensive in this constrained setting. It forced people to break down problems to smaller parts. Also, the exercise showcased that people worked on many assumptions and didn't make things explicit (as an observer, I was wondering for quite some time if Romeu actually wrote code or just pretended to do so).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Awesome blind ensemble programming session hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/malk_zameth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@malk_zameth</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> - ironically, not seeing anything can be an eye-opening experience!</p>— Christoph Kober (@kober_ch) <a href="https://twitter.com/kober_ch/status/1563194605314920451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Programming without seeing the code, I highly recommend you do that. It's terrifying. That's my idea of fun." <a href="https://twitter.com/malk_zameth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@malk_zameth</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a></p>— Mathias Verraes (@mathiasverraes) <a href="https://twitter.com/mathiasverraes/status/1563169266106392578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul></div><p style="text-align: left;">Right after the open space day sessions were finished, we had another queue for evening sessions as well! Lots of great activities being proposed by everyone, from purely social fun to more tech topics, the whole range was present. I offered the redo of my ensemble exploratory testing session. Over dinner more people got interested - and indeed, we found a great group to work with and had some fun testing together in the evening.</p><p style="text-align: left;">This evening ended up in the bar, having further great conversations following my Ask me Anything session. I met <a href="https://twitter.com/mgaertne" target="_blank">Markus Gärtner</a> for the first time in person, cool to get in touch finally as well. Lastly, more tech fun, this time in the form of a coding kata. Romeu had asked a few times if I'd like to join him on a kata, and I never really took the courage. Yet when he came over to the bar table and kindly asked again, it was just the moment. So kata it was! The evening got late and it was time to get some rest before the next one. But not before agreeing with Romeu that we will propose a paired session the next day - whatever it might be.</p><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kudos to <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/mgaertne?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mgaertne</a> for an insightful exchange on testing and how to possibly improve the situation of testers and therefore the project under very complex circumstances. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> evening sessions</p>— Markus Deibel (@msdeibel) <a href="https://twitter.com/msdeibel/status/1563280250477617152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2>Open Space - Day 2</h2></div><p style="text-align: left;">The second day started and once again many people offered many great sessions.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Here is the session plan for day two of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> OpenSpace. <a href="https://t.co/CCWQwdajEz">pic.twitter.com/CCWQwdajEz</a></p>— Markus Tacker (he/him) 💙💛 🇳🇴 (@coderbyheart) <a href="https://twitter.com/coderbyheart/status/1563443216351133697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>"Talking about Security" by <a href="https://twitter.com/realn2s" target="_blank">Claudius Link</a>. A great open conversation on all things security. Lots of interested people joined, asking questions and sharing stories. We talked about how risk to a company is also risk to you as well as your family and friends. Think of the network! It's usually an industry working against us; a lot of attacks are automated, yet there are also a few targeted ones. Claudius is especially intrigued by the human element in all this, so we also talked about the seven principles of social engineering. How to counteract? What you can reduce most easily is the time pressure. Also: make people talk with someone.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Security session by <a href="https://twitter.com/realn2s?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realn2s</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> highlighting 7 principles to spot an attack<br />Which also helps screen advertising!<br /><br />(Don't) want<br />Time pressure<br />Story/grain of truth<br />Distraction<br />Illegal<br />Authority<br />Herd mentality</p>— Amélie Cornélis (@AmelieCornelis) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmelieCornelis/status/1563454558344736775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"Pipeline Game - DevOps CI/CD Pipeline" by <a href="https://twitter.com/emilybache" target="_blank">Emily Bache</a>. I've heard of the <a href="https://www.eficode.com/pipeline-game?hsLang=en" target="_blank">pipeline game and related card deck</a> a few times, now was my chance to join a session and give it a try myself. We could not do the full rounds yet enough to get a gist on it. I loved the conversations that emerged that also showed up our own biases! Based on a chosen scenario, our group designed our ideal pipeline with all the steps we felt necessary, always checking how fast our feedback would be. What stuck with me was Emily sharing that pipeline design is also a business decision - it's too important! Another curious insight for me was that most people talked about manual work as something done by others: by testers, or UX, or someone outside the team - yet not as everyone on the team and hence we would have additional waiting time.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Playing a card game with <a href="https://twitter.com/emilybache?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@emilybache</a> where we planned out a continuous delivery pipeline has been one of the highlights of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> for me! <a href="https://t.co/mWX2B9PjJI">pic.twitter.com/mWX2B9PjJI</a></p>— Irina (@irina_lindt) <a href="https://twitter.com/irina_lindt/status/1563493028572332032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"Reading Code under the Influence of Our Emotions" by <a href="https://twitter.com/malk_zameth" target="_blank">Romeu Moura</a> and me. This ended up as the paired session we agreed on doing. Reading code was the overlapping theme in our topics, and hence we went with it. We both had a vague idea and aligned for probably 30 seconds shortly before the session. This was a nice challenge in improvisation for me, and Romeu was the perfect one to do it with - huge kudos to Romeu for rolling with me on the fly, I loved it! And it seems we've hit a nerve with this improvised session. Lots of people joining and contributing. The main idea? We're spending most of our time reading code, often written by other people, yet also by ourselves. We all are human and have emotions when reading code. How can we get better at both reading code for comprehension as well as coping with our emotions while doing so? We had our own thoughts on what practices and techniques would help, yet mainly gathered input from participants and had conversations together that generated even more ideas. Lots of food for thought. I think we need more sessions on these topics.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">What are techniques for reading code and copying with feelings that arise while doing so? Great Session by <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/malk_zameth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@malk_zameth</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/TYHPJT1pGH">pic.twitter.com/TYHPJT1pGH</a></p>— Martin (he/him) (@md42) <a href="https://twitter.com/md42/status/1563534802484989952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Yet another slot I skipped due to conversations following the code reading and my ensemble sessions. It's an open space, some things emerge without being planned and on the schedule, and it's good this way!</li><li>"Security Fun - Let's Tackle OWASP Juice Shop" by me. This session was inspired by a conversation during the last days where someone mentioned <a href="https://owasp.org/www-project-juice-shop/" target="_blank">Juice Shop</a> and I felt more people might want to know about it. Hence, I seized the opportunity. I introduced people to this intentionally vulnerable application, set the scene for the first challenge and supported the groups as they went on their discovery journey. It seems people enjoyed it and had fun - and they also all managed to solve the initial challenge, or even quite a lot of them!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> for a great security session hacking the <a href="https://twitter.com/owasp_juiceshop?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@owasp_juiceshop</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> 💜 And thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/bkimminich?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bkimminich</a> that you keep changing the project so it is always fun.</p>— Janina Nemec (@IsItArtOrTrash) <a href="https://twitter.com/IsItArtOrTrash/status/1563548088589230085?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;">The official open space closed with a retrospective. We gathered in groups and collected our feedback for organizers, facilitator, session hosts and participants, writing it all down on flip charts. Loved seeing all the thought that went into it!</p><p style="text-align: left;">While the official part was done, we still had evening sessions scheduled. As we had talked about card decks today, I brought my <a href="https://www.ministryoftesting.com/testsphere" target="_blank">TestSphere</a> and <a href="https://www.pejgan.se/WHRI.htm" target="_blank">Would Heu-Risk It?</a> card decks and offered a session based on these - story telling or other activities depending on the people joining. People came indeed and were mostly intrigued by trying <a href="https://www.ministryoftesting.com/testsphere/riskstorming" target="_blank">RiskStorming</a>. I invented a scenario and product to brainstorm on. We had lots of fun discovering what matters to us, what risks there are and what we could do to mitigate them.</p><p style="text-align: left;">This evening was still by far not over. A few of us engaged in deep conversations filling hours, and I just loved it.</p></div><div><br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Workshop Day</h2><p style="text-align: left;">The day after the open space is traditionally meant for workshops only, also ones spanning more time. I heard that traditionally also a <a href="https://www.coderetreat.org/the-workshop/" target="_blank">Code Retreat</a> would take place. I've had a few opportunities in the past where I could have joined one, and I always wanted to - yet again and again got scared and shied away from it. This time, seeing the community being so welcoming, open and focused on learning with each other, I felt this might just be the moment for me. I have to admit, I still nearly didn't go. Yet I took up my courage and sneaked into the room while introductions began. <a href="https://twitter.com/stefanscheidt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">Stefan Scheidt</a> originally wanted to join a code retreat himself, ended up facilitating it - and I'm ever so grateful for this kind and safe experience that made it easy for me to get out of my comfort zone once again. Especially as he was the first one to team up with me!</p><p style="text-align: left;">Now, what is a code retreat in a nutshell? It's a structure for deliberate practice of coding. You usually go with the same coding kata, like the classic Conway's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life" target="_blank">Game of Life</a> the whole day. You try to solve the kata in each round with a new pair using TDD. At the end of the round, you delete the code, and reflect on what you learned in the whole group. Each round you might have different constraints; you might work in a new programming language, or choose design constraints, or specific ways of collaboration (like ping-pong pairing), and more. Despite tackling the same challenge, it can be solved in a lot of different ways - each round will be different and you will learn new things! In the five rounds we did, I had four different pairing partners. The last round we did as an ensemble. I worked in four different programming languages: Java, Kotlin, Python and Haskell. We had different pairing agreements: when to switch, how to collaborate, who decides the next step, who talks etc. We started outside-in and inside-out. We used different IDEs. We used different code design constraints inspired by <a href="https://twitter.com/IsItArtOrTrash" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a>'s upcoming Code Retreat Kata Card Game - and more.</p><p style="text-align: left;">As I said, I was scared before. I'm not scared anymore! It was such a great experience and really makes me want to do more. I also realized that my previous pairing and ensembling practice really helped me in this situation (once again), just like everything I picked up on the way and that I worked across many systems, IDEs, languages and pairing styles already. It's making us really flexible in the end and doesn't get in the way of the solution. I realized once again that I know more and can learn more than I thought. I also feared that my very tired brain after all these conference days without much sleep would be overloaded quickly, that my cognitive load would be too much. Yet thanks to TDD and the engaging pairing sessions it worked really well despite being so tired, it was rather energizing. And the safety aspect allowed me to really use my energy for learning, not worrying.</p><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Loved the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> Code Retreat! <a href="https://twitter.com/stefanscheidt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@stefanscheidt</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ChristophWelcz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChristophWelcz</a> and all participants created such a safe and kind space of learning with each other! 5 rounds, 4 languages, various constraints, lots of insights. Was awesome we could run the last round as an ensemble! 😃 <a href="https://t.co/vRwQWamwTp">https://t.co/vRwQWamwTp</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1564271606964289538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I'm definitely queuing up for getting this card deck, was great to explore it a bit at the code retreat at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a>. Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/IsItArtOrTrash?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IsItArtOrTrash</a> for this! <a href="https://t.co/UeQ937aaWj">https://t.co/UeQ937aaWj</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1564288667367120897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><p style="text-align: left;">The evening came, more conversations, more great people to get to know better and hang out with. Loved that I finally had a chance to catch up with <a href="https://twitter.com/sebrose" target="_blank">Seb Rose</a> this way! Also, I've found a partner in crime and real challenge when it comes to the game of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_(card_game)" target="_blank">Set</a> - some of you might have seen it as a common guest at testing conferences. It was amazing to see <a href="https://twitter.com/IsItArtOrTrash" target="_blank">Janina Nemec</a> (whom I've met in the Juice Shop session and paired with in the code retreat) rock this game - loved playing with her, was super fun!</p><div><br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Returning Home</h2><p style="text-align: left;">The day of saying final last goodbyes arrived. We could postpone them a bit further, though. A whole bunch of us took the same regional train to the next bigger city together. Yet another hour of sharing and enjoying that community feeling! Wonderful.</p><p style="text-align: left;">My whole experience was awesome. Organizers had put in lots of effort and intention to make this a great experience for as many people as possible and were eager to learn at every step how they can do even better. Participants were open, welcoming, curious and lovely to talk with. Personally, I felt very welcome. I left with a lot more people in my network, lots of deep and long-lasting conversations, lots of ideas and inspiration. Also, I was returning home with my personal goals achieved. I created bridges and fostered our common space. I practiced coding. I discovered something new. I also dared quite a few things, the conference inspired me to go out of my comfort zone again and grow.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Today at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> I sat in a session and learned Scratch from a 11yo girl. And I was not the only one. Magic can happen people - you just gotta let it. <br /><br />Also proves that no matter how junior, you can and will learn something from anyone if you only take the time to listen.</p>— Jan (@Jan0707) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jan0707/status/1563546364151496706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Sometimes this is a really weird conference with fantastically weird participants<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/xGWsyIERUV">pic.twitter.com/xGWsyIERUV</a></p>— Jay Peper 🇺🇦 (@jason_peper) <a href="https://twitter.com/jason_peper/status/1563563932786491397?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p style="text-align: left;">That being said, there's also a word of caution: this conference can trigger lots of fear of missing out (FOMO) and I have to admit I did not sleep much. Next time I'll definitely need to include more self-care and also take a vacation day right afterwards.</p><p style="text-align: left;">One of my personal favorite aspects of this conference that surprised me in a way I didn't expect were hand-written kudos cards. Such an awesome feeling to suddenly have another person hand one to you! This time, I only managed to get my own kudos verbally across, yet next time it'll definitely be on my list to make time to write these cards. I'm ever grateful for those people who did take that time for me.</p><p style="text-align: left;">In any case, I can only whole-heartedly recommend this conference. It might be rather developer- and architect-centric as of now, yet people are really caring about their craft from a holistic point of view. So, here's a warm welcome and encouragement to have more of every skill we need added to it. Be it testing, quality, agile, operations, product, UX focused folks - in the end, we're all taking about very similar things from different perspectives, and should be working together anyway. Let's learn together.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Phew, what an amazing time my first on-site edition of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SoCraTes2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SoCraTes2022</a> had been! ✨ So much to digest and follow-up on, lots of inspiration and confidence gained, and best of all: a newfound strong connection with this wonderful welcoming community. Thank you everyone! ❤</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1564285319322763266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-73800596285115306202022-07-27T10:12:00.001+02:002022-07-27T23:39:46.243+02:00A Time of Transition - Eight Months on a New Team<p>It's been eight months now that I'm at my new company, on my new team. Beginning of the year, I've shared <a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2022/01/onboarding-struggles-and-strategies.html" target="_blank">my observations on the first months and my onboarding experience</a>. Now that I've been here for over half a year, it's time to look back and reflect on what happened so far. Brace yourself, there's a lot to share.</p><p>In the following I'll be reflecting on my own team's context and transition. My team is usually my home base to operate from across teams. It's also where I deliberately put my focus on for the first part of my journey at this new company. We've already been through many challenges together, we've grown a lot, there's more change ahead, and I'm still having good reasons to stay at the company and move in better directions together.</p><p>Now, besides my team, there's a lot more to say about my first impressions and experiences at the company. On the one hand, there's the quality engineering guild with so many knowledgeable people I'm still honored to be colleagues with. We had great interactions so far, though not as many as I'd love to have yet. I mean, imagine the possibilities! On the other hand, there's the rest of the company with lots of more amazing experts of all areas. Like our infrastructure people, our medical doctors, our security experts, and many more. It's been a pleasure having our paths overlap already - again, not enough for my taste yet. And still, the focus on my own team was an intentional choice and I still feel it's where my attention is needed most. Which brings us to this post about the transition we went through together in the team: looking back to where we started, what happened, where we are right now, what helped on our way, and what the future might hold.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Where did we start?</h2><p>It's always good to look back and see where we started out together. Without intentional sugarcoating, just as I've experienced it. In hindsight, some of my initial observations became stronger with additional evidence, other realizations only came over time. Please note that it's about people here. People who wanted to do a good job given the circumstances, people who have my respect. We'll see later how things changed and what impact this had, yet let me first paint the situation as I've observed it.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Solo working as default.</b> I've experienced this as quite a contrast to my previous team. When joining this one, people could not really relate to me speaking about "pairing" or "ensembling". I realized they just never experienced effective synchronous collaboration. Everybody just did their thing, then considered it done and handed it over to someone else. I joined a team by name, yet did not encounter a team by spirit.</li><li><b>Limited communication within the team.</b> I've seen people share a few sentences once per day during our daily. I saw only very few messages sent in the team channel or directly to me. I did see a few pull request comments from half the team. Whenever there were team calls, many people were completely quiet. That most people had their video turned off all the time did not make it easier. Yes, there are valid reasons why people don't turn on their camera, and I don't want to force anyone - yet it does make communication and building relationships harder for me.</li><li><b>Knowledge silos, gatekeeping, non-transparency.</b> Oh my, this was a tough landing. I've seen people not share information with each other that definitely could and should be shared. I've seen the same with knowledge or any kind of learning. I've seen it with permission and access, be it for tooling or invites to meetings or channels or anything. At times, people were not only not involved, yet being actively kept out of conversations. Usually, there was only the one person who you depended on to get anywhere - yet you first had to find that person. You can imagine that people did not know the whole system they were working on. You can imagine the knowledge loss when people left the team. You can also imagine there was lots of misunderstanding and unrealistic expectations towards each other, as there was no shared understanding on a team level. You can also imagine that people did not like sharing their own work in progress before they considered it "done".</li><li><b>Expert role thinking.</b> I've seen people treating each other very differently based on the role they identified with. I've seen them retreat to their own box, and shift tasks or responsibilities towards others once they did not fit perfectly in that box. I've seen "that's not my job" attitudes and other defensive patterns. This group felt at times like a conglomerate of sub-groups of individuals based on expertise or identities, like the "backend people" and the "frontend team".</li><li><b>Inaction, not daring to make decisions.</b> I've encountered this over and over. I was coming from great environments where I learned that most of the time it is okay to go ahead without formal permission and rather ask forgiveness afterwards (while always considering impact upfront). Here, I encountered people who turned in circles over and over before daring to take action - if they took action at all. Let's rather have someone else make the decision or give us permission. Let's wait for someone else to make the first move. For everything, even very little things within the pure scope of the team. You can imagine that there was no experimentation going on or any tangible improvements to be seen.</li><li><b>Being pulled in various directions.</b> There was no clear vision for the team or their product, at least none I learned about. Instead, I've seen the team being torn in various directions by various stakeholders who lacked understanding of the complexities of product development. Expectations were left unmanaged and I did not see any clear communication in place. Frustrations built up as people outside saw the team did not deliver things to the end, while the team was frustrated that before they could finish something they got pulled on to the next big thing.</li><li><b>Boundaries being crossed.</b> Some people were super mindful with boundaries, and I celebrate them! Yet truth be told, I've seen the very opposite behavior with other people and this takes a toll. I've seen the team being asked on a late Friday evening to get results for early Monday morning. I've been myself in calls the whole day and being asked in each call to do something right away - yet when? Of course, the super urgent "whatever it was" was not being needed at all, or not being followed up. Expectations were unrealistic and definitely not healthy or sustainable. We lacked breathing space. I definitely did. I felt the need to push back heavily and make my boundaries overly explicit with some people, while trying not to fall back into my own personal pattern of being a people pleaser.</li><li><b>Blame shifting.</b> This was maybe the most unfortunate, yet it explained lots of the defensive behaviors I've seen. Anyone made a mistake, any failure - and the blame game started. Be it across roles in the same team, or across teams - it's always the other one. No wonder why people came up with coping mechanisms, retreated to their own little safe places and did not dare do anything they might get blamed for.</li><li><b>Bad team reputation in the company.</b> Another very sad thing I've heard from different people, even before I joined in. Their history (or rather their historical outside perception) wasn't shining a bright light on the team. It seems lots of communication issues across teams occurred. People expressed frustrations with the team introducing changes that broke things for other teams. People complained about all the perceived issues with the product. When joining the team, I did not find too much evidence to support this, yet once a team has a certain reputation it's going to take effort to switch this around.</li></ul><div>Suffice it to say, I've encountered a group of individuals who tried their best working in this situation. They tried to help and support each other according to their knowledge and experience, given these conditions. Suffice it to say, I thought they deserve better - me included. So, let's shift this narrative and craft our own. But before that, let's add more details to the picture and also have a look at how testing and quality was considered in the team.</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Throwing it over the wall.</b> Automated tests were in the realm of the developers, yet anything else was "moved over the wall" to the dedicated quality engineer on the team. It was even considered a phase in the workflow. At this point changes were merged into mainline already, developers moved on to their next topics and feedback loops took really long. Little to no collaboration across roles could be observed. Later on, I found out lots of reasons, from not understanding what testing is about to developers not daring to test themselves, fearing they might miss important things.</li><li><b>Skipping backend testing.</b> Changes on backend side often slipped through the cracks and were just moved to "Done". Well, you can imagine people were surprise about changed behavior. You can also imagine that avoidable bugs escaped to production.</li><li><b>Lack of foundational knowledge.</b> Due to the knowledge silos and lack of sharing, people were not aware of things that I previously would have considered essential to the very task. They simply never had or took the opportunity to find out, and there was no incentive in it for them to do so either. I'm talking of knowing how to run your services locally, or calling the API of a deployed service. And these are good people - they just weren't aware of their options or sought to find out what's possible. Many even had been told it's not possible and it stopped there.</li><li><b>Testing only integrated states.</b> As testing was coming in late, people only ever tested the integrated system. Sometimes this meant lots of changes combined already which in my experience makes it hard to detect problems, pin them down and relate them to their root causes. It's way easier to go in small steps and first see how the small change in a single piece behaves in isolation, before you put the pieces together and look how they behave together. </li><li><b>Poor testability.</b> Wherever I looked, things were hard. Harder than they needed to be. Time to find out how to make it easier, so it's also getting easier to spread the knowledge. Yet at the beginning, no one looked into making testing easier, they either thought it's not possible, or not worth it, or did not have capacity or the needed reward to invest in it (yes, similar to above). Instead, let's go the way of least resistance for now and either not test at all besides automation, or test the integrated state. Yet even there, we had poor visibility into what's actually going on.</li><li><b>Starting over finishing.</b> As people were focused on their own piece of the work, and once it was done for them, they considered it done overall. Guess what? People continued starting new topics. All the time. Didn't hurt them, right? Yet when starting a trillion things and not following through to the end, you will end up with a huge queue and block yourself. Developers might have three topics to juggle with themselves in development, and maybe one or two to review - which is already a lot yet might still be okay for one person. From a dedicated tester's perspective though, this is a nightmare. Five developers each having their three topics going on means fifteen topics to switch context between for you. And lots of ping pong. Forget about throughput and flow, let alone fast feedback.</li><li><b>Poor observability and monitoring.</b> Knowing or rather not knowing production was one of the first things I realized. If issues occurred, they were not easily and quickly spotted. Investigating issues was not straightforward yet complex. Responsibilities were unclear as well; who even responds to the people raising our awareness to problem reports?</li></ul><p></p><p>I guess there's always more to share, yet this should give you the context where we started from to understand the transition the team made.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">What happened?</h2><div>So many things took place in the last eight months. Here are a few highlights of our journey together.</div><div></div><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Team changes.</b> First of all, the team I started in is not the same anymore as the team I'm on now. Five former people left, two contractors joined and left within this period, four new permanent people joined. It's been an overly huge team when I started out, now at ten people it's still at the very maximum when it comes to team size from my perspective. Communication pathways are already very complex.</li><li><b>Finding a dearly missed product manager.</b> The team had multiple, frequently changing product people before and suffered from it. Now we got really lucky and found a wonderful product manager who is all up for transparency and knowledge sharing and always involves the team. Someone who sets clear priorities and gives the team focus. Someone who sets clear expectations with stakeholders and also shields the team from unhelpful organizational issues. Someone who makes quick informed decisions, instantly takes action and leads by that. I cannot overstate enough what difference this makes!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Shout-out to our product manager, she's just amazing in creating transparency and clarity! Her today on a complex cross-team topic: ~ "Let's write everything down that we think or assume and make it visible as a reference, even if it's wrong this way it can be challenged." 🌟</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1523807300217196544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li><b>Rediscovering how to release.</b> Knowledge got lost, and even such crucial knowledge as how to even release. Yes, that hurts. Given we have to consider compliance for very good reasons for our product, this was no little effort to figure out what's needed to get a new product version to the market. As the rediscovery phase took long and lots of changes queued up, it was a huge release. We all wanted to practice this more often and have smaller releases with less risk. With each following one we learned more about how we can make it easier, and we're still learning. Yet now we have transparency, the whole team is involved and enabled to do releases.</li><li><b>Team canvas session.</b> This was initiated by our new product manager and was what the team needed at that time. A place to share what's important to us, where we want to grow into, what opportunities we see for our product, our personal values, and more. A foundation for the team to build on. As an outcome we now also have made our team values explicit. This way, we have a great reference for us to live by and also for people outside the team or joining the team to start with.</li><li><b>Huge epic.</b> Beginning of the year, the team was made aware of an upcoming topic. When I heard of it, I instantly knew this will mean a gigantic effort, while observing lots of expectation mismatches (even down to "we'll do this in 2-3 weeks" - no way). In the end, it was a gigantic effort indeed! We're in the finishing touches now, yet this was huge. It was so huge, we had to literally drop everything else in order to make this happen. Kudos also here again to our product manager setting expectations very explicitly.</li><li><b>Extinguishing lots of fires.</b> The time from March to June was a bit extreme. Lots of super urgent topics that all had to happen at the same time created lots of pressure. All while we also already worked on that huge epic. I think we only got through thanks to trying to tackle one thing at a time and our new product manager really stepping up. Can't emphasize this enough - she's seen the worst in her first month and is still with us! So, to see the positive here: this was the opportunity to set clear constraints and manage expectations, share the situation with other teams, get their understanding and support. I really felt this was a moment which could either break or make the team - and we ended up on the good side, the team really grew closer together.</li><li><b>My first time away from the team.</b> I deliberately declined conferences and other endeavors within my first months, yet at some point they were coming. I knew up to this point, I needed to have the team enabled to take over testing themselves. They have the full context, anyone external would end up in the situation I was finding myself in when I started, it's not worth it for a temporary period - and also it would have reverted lots of the culture change we've been working on.</li></ul><p></p><p>At the same time, we had lots of other constructions sites and room for improvement in the team. After the first month of observing, building relationships and growing my knowledge, here are the initiatives I ran within the team.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Onboarding and offboarding guidelines.</b> Already in my first month it became clear that the team lacked shared knowledge, it was a rough start. As I had to gather the information bits and pieces anyway, I revised the existing onboarding page to a guide to help the next ones joining. Documentation itself was only half of the story, the other half was the mindset how to meet a new teammate, how to make them feel welcome and taken care of. Just last week a new person started in our team. Based on their feedback, it seems we're doing things a lot better already! Now, as much as there will always be new people coming, there will also be people leaving. That required a guideline as well to make sure we not only have a good last time together, yet also to handle permissions and set up the new team for their own future.</li><li><b>Making knowledge common.</b> This ranged from sharing knowledge while collaborating, to sharing what I learned in the team channels, to writing "how to" documents. I quickly realized people really appreciated knowledge sharing! They also wanted to have fun together. Hence, we introduced a bi-weekly "knowledge & games" session where we took the first half to share whatever we learned, as informal as it could be to lower the barrier. The second half was reserved for games, whatever we were up for on that day. Already in the first sessions, I observed lots of aha-moments! During the high phase of the epic, we observed less knowledge sharing and more games, yet it was one the few things we did not stop. Now, we also see the sharing part being revived again, which makes me happy.</li><li><b>Issue handling policy and issue investigator of the week.</b> One part of knowing production was to know how to deal with reported issues in production. The company had a guideline overall, yet it was not actionable enough for the team's context. I made good experiences in the past with having an explicit policy in place, so that's what I tried here as well. I made a proposal, I requested comments, we walked through everything together in a call, we all agreed to it. And we live it. Part of the policy is that we make quick decisions and not allow issues to hang around in our backlog, rotting away and just representing waste. Another part was quick response time to issues that we either identify ourselves or that are brought to our attention. Now we have a rotation in place, every teammate taking a weekly turn as "first responder" (or "issue investigator" as we call it) to evaluate any issues and then handle them according to our policy. At first, the team was not really comfortable with making calls like "we won't fix this, it's not providing enough value" and reflecting this decision in the ticket status by closing it. If it's not worth working on right away, however, then let's rather face the truth we won't tackle it at all unless our knowledge about the situation changes. If things are more important than initially thought, they will surface again. Ever since beginning of the year, you can see not only a clean issue backlog (some old issues had gathered dust there for three years), yet also quick decisions, important issues actually being fixed, quick responses to new incoming ones, and a lot less weight on the shoulders of the team. There's a lot more clarity now.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Proposed a new issue handling policy in my team a few days ago. It triggered a great conversation & we gave it a go. Today three of us cleaned up our current issue backlog by 50% already, plus we quickly decided on how to process 2 more in a team session. I call that a win! 😊🎉</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1481768707982516226?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li><b>More cleanups, more transparency.</b> As the issue backlog cleanup was so successful, we decided not to stop there. We also cleaned up the rest of our backlog, closing old epics that hang around, outdated tickets and more. Absolutely freeing and also providing more clarity. Great timing as well, just before our new product manager joined. We also cleaned up our wiki space - so many outdated documents! Also here, nothing got deleted, yet pages got moved in an "Archive" section and hence the rest of the wiki is now lean, up to date, accessible and manageable again.</li><li><b>Shaping the system to include everyone.</b> For us it was crucial not only to pull single people into conversations actively, yet to have things accessible and visible from the start so people can make their own choices. For example, having all team related calls on the team calendar. Little thing to do, massive improvement in team culture! Or having one call link always available where everyone can join in and work together or alongside each other like in a physical team room. This way, I also overheard lots of conversations I wouldn't have access to myself otherwise. Or dissolving other systemic silos, like granting permissions to all needed tooling to all team members alike, independent from their role. Fostering a culture where people outside the team reach us through a common team channel so that we all see it and all can respond, instead of having individuals as single contact points and hence bottlenecks. Makes a huge difference in sharing load and increasing resilience, as well as in shared ownership and a feeling of team responsibility.</li><li><b>(Re)Discovering ways to collaborate for flow and fast feedback.</b> When I started out, I realized the people on the team did not have any connection or understanding what I refer to when I speak about "pairing" or "ensembling". I understood they were working very asynchronously as well. Therefore, I tried to meet them where they are and at first collaborate very closely in an asynchronous manner. Working the board from "right to left", providing feedback on the items farthest in the process first and then working my way closer to what my developer teammates worked on right now. I added my findings as comments to the ticket as they couldn't oversee them this way. I used Slack heavily to ask questions or share insights. I tried to be fast and basically overtake them so we could work "side by side", being quick in any asynchronous manner. This worked nicely and people started to see what I meant with fast feedback as they experienced it! I also stopped talking about "pairing" and instead started to catch people in our daily calls, asking them "can you stay on for a moment? I'd like to show you something". Sharing screen, demonstrating where I had questions on or what I found, and then continue interacting with the system during the call. Demonstrating the benefit of looking at things together, making it easier to understand what's going on. At some point, an early adopter turned this around. He asked me instead if I could stay on the call. This developer wanted to share the current state with me and actively pulled my feedback on an early iteration. He had realized this shortens the feedback loop and he can move faster! He continued asking me for pairing sessions from then on. He even said maybe he should wait with merging. Maybe we won't need the "testing" column anymore in the future. Big win! Especially as he lived this in front of the others. I had my early ally already advocating for new ways. This grew to me pairing with each and everyone. Having them pair with each other as well. Having small groups work together as ensemble. People pulling in more people on demand. Sometimes just working side by side, yet more and more often together on the same thing.</li><li><b>Living continuous holistic testing. </b>Not only speeding up feedback throughout delivery, yet also testing all kinds of pieces, from ideas to logic units, from mockups to automated tests, from documentation to architecture. Testing earlier and earlier, smaller and smaller. With trying to overtake people to meet them where they are or even before they picked up a new task, I naturally started testing smaller iterations and smaller pieces. I was used to that from my past teams, yet no one on the team experienced this yet. Some people on the team felt it's a waste of time or not the correct approach in their minds. I decided to just do it (as so many times) and let them experience the benefits. And they did! Nowadays, I finally can even join them when implementing a change or any other activity. In the first months, though, I was already content with joining efforts on testing only. I also made a point to brainstorm test ideas before people picked up new work planned for the sprint. Again, meeting them where they were by simply leaving comments in tickets and making people aware, asking for their thoughts, using them as conversation starters, and moving on from there.</li><li><b>Solving testability problems.</b> By testing earlier, I came across lots of things that made it hard to test. Discovering solutions that were good enough, then building on them helped massively. For example, understanding how to run things locally as this right now provided most visibility under the hood. Or improving readme files and creating Postman collections for an easier starting point. Or using Wiremock to stub out external dependencies and explore more of our service's behavior. Or using other tools to gain more insights while testing. Also creating "how to" guides to document this for others as references. Yes, all that at the same time was a massive endeavor, and I really drew a lot from my past experience. Honestly, starting at a new company validated the experience I gained over the past six years heavily. Nowadays, I feel a lot less like an impostor. There's still a lot more we can do to increase testability, and I have lots of ideas - yet capacity is limited and I have to choose carefully what would have the most impact and not run too fast for the team to follow up with change.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Discovered more of 3 legacy services today - these were some tough nuts to crack! Frustrating at times, yet so rewarding. Got the parts running I needed to test, gained a lot more insights into the inner workings & more confidence in my "figuring things out" skills this way. 💪🏻</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1500965924245016582?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li>
<li><b>Stop starting, start finishing.</b> Luckily, I was not the only one repeating this mantra. Product and engineering managers joined me in this constant preaching. Preaching alone does not help, though! You have to lead by example, taking actions, making clear calls. Setting up the system to reward "finishing" behavior. Only when people experienced the pain themselves it got easier and they started to think first where they can help each other before they started something new. Well, some weeks were better than others, yet we're all human. Especially when pressure is on and we feel stressed, it's so easy to fall back to old habits. I see that with myself over and over again. Nowadays, the flow is a lot smoother and on most days we have a lot higher throughput than before. What helped here as well was that we had clear focus on our huge epic, clear priorities, and this approach was very clearly supported by our product manager. Focus really helped to get everyone not pressing ahead on their own yet to collaborate closely.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">In our last retro there were two comments along these lines:<br />1. "Stop starting, start finishing - as a team" - <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> <br />2. "Start thinking, 'what can I help to complete?' Before picking up new tasks"<br /><br />Board distribution should be front and tail heavy, with little in the middle</p>— David Williams (@TheTestingMuse) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheTestingMuse/status/1483760040637091847?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li><b>Enabling the team to test.</b> Having each teammate now experience pairing sessions with me and practicing testing together with me (including documentation), they learned more and more about the whole system, what to look for, how to do it. Also here, I tried something that had helped me with past teams: I created a generic testing guideline. It always helped me personally not to forget about specific things that are important in the context, and I learned it helps others as well, especially if they are less practiced in testing. We don't have to re-invent the wheel! Also here, it proved to be a nice reference for people to think of when I would not be available. As it happened, I was off the time for increasing periods of time. At first, I was away only for two days. A few weeks later, for a whole week. Shortly after, for over two weeks. People really knew what's coming up and realized they have to step up, they can't just let things slide if they don't want to fall back massively. What happened? The first two days, the early adopter developer made a heroic effort of covering testing all by himself. He mimicked a lot of what he's observed with me, it was amazing to see! Yet it was a lot and all on him. The second time around, the team struggled and rather favored working on new changes over testing others. Tickets piled up waiting for feedback, and they experienced the pain and friction themselves. When I returned, it also took me the next two weeks to get back to a clean state together with them. Well, it was expected that people struggle, they've never done this before. And finally, my longest off time came - and they managed super well! I came back to an up-to-date state, could calmy start without pressure, things were taken care of by three of my developer teammates this time. Absolutely amazing outcome! I've seen teams successfully taking over before, yet never so fast so well. Super proud of them.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Yesterday a fellow quality engineer shared they got inspired by my story testing notes - didn't see that one coming! 😅😊 Also learned we share the approach to create "consider all of this when testing x" checklists to keep ourselves and our teams reminded 😉</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1514012952969588736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">So proud of my fellow developer. 😍 I've been off at a conference for two days. He 1) took over testing for five stories, 2) took it seriously, 3) came up with great ideas, 4) learned valuable information, 5) documented findings well, 6) walked another developer through! ❤🌟🙌🏻</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1522325779702550529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Returned to work after being off for >2 weeks, longest time so far. So good to come back to an up to date state, nothing piled up! 🤩 3 of 5 developers did an amazing job performing testing activities including documentation, everything taken care of. I can just join in again. ❤</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1537889566509568008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li><b>Doing releases as a team.</b> When rediscovering how releases were done, I documented the single steps in a "how to" guideline. Then we started sharing this knowledge across the team. For our previous release it was the first time all teammates available on that day joined in with release testing together - massive improvement! As all of them now are also experiencing the friction in our current release process, they got inspired to find better ways, make it less tedious. Our current release has now been done without me being in a leading position, I'm just being consulted when needed and obviously I'm still there to support. This is a huge step again for the team!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Thank you so much <a href="https://twitter.com/TestPappy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TestPappy</a>! 😍 It was a challenge today, the very first time this team ever tested a release together as a team and it was absolutely worth it! 💪🏻 Can't emphasize enough how much I appreciate your amazing support for our team & me personally, not only today! 🙏🏻 <a href="https://t.co/fL8SbTZBRn">https://t.co/fL8SbTZBRn</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1542610759141756928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li><b>Fostering cross-team collaboration.</b> For the huge epic we're working on, it requires lots of teams. A great opportunity to establish and learn how to work well together across teams, including testing together! Absolutely nice to gain empathy, learn about the system as a whole, get to know the domain better, and especially also create relationships. Another topic: we showed up as a team during incidents that also required collaboration across teams. People suddenly saw our team in a different light, they saw us collaborating closely and constructively in a stressful situation. I bet it gained us reputation points or at least made people reconsider their viewpoint. We also had lot closer communication and collaboration with people from other specialties, like infrastructure services, customer experience, medical knowledge. Creating bridges and bonds here, always trying to be as transparent, constructive and helpful as possible. Learning which dependencies we have, who needs to be informed about what and be proactive about it. We've now also seen people actively reach out to us asking for how we work and pulling knowledge.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Struggles yesterday, wins today! 🎉 Facilitated system testing with people from many different teams, learned a lot. 💡 Presented insights from conferences with my peers <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TesterFromLeic</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jrosaproenca</a>. 🔥 Talked with the amazing <a href="https://twitter.com/janetgregoryca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@janetgregoryca</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/lisacrispin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisacrispin</a> about pairing! 🤩</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1547328051230425089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li><b>Knowing production.</b> This is still a huge topic for us. It was one of my first ones to start with, and also one of the first to sadly be interrupted during the hot phase of our huge epic (I know, what a contradiction - just when we needed it most). I invested in learning more about our current infrastructure setup, our tooling to see what's going on, started to clean up and filter out noise to see the important parts we needed to act on. Before trying to create good practices in the whole team, I implemented a daily habit for myself to see what's actually going on on the only system that counts in the end - production. I discovered issues this way that we fixed which was a promising start. Then it came to a halt, just keeping the status quo without improving further. Only now we all can pick it up again.</li></ul><p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Where are we now?</h2><div>We made huge strides on our journey. Remember where we started out? Compare it to what we see now.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>All kinds of collaboration modes.</b> Synchronous pairing and ensembling, working side by side in the same virtual space, as well as asynchronous solo work. Wherever people are right now, whatever they deem best right now. And still evolving.</li><li><b>Heavily increased communication and making things explicit.</b> This occurred thanks to synchronous work in general, yet can also be observed in team channels and in calls. Also across teams!</li><li><b>Inclusion and access by default.</b> A topic we will continue learning about for a long time, yet we can already see how people changed their behavior, thinking of the team - which they also benefit from themselves. This was a huge game changer for us.</li><li><b>Higher confidence in our product, less observed issues.</b> Fast and early feedback paid off! As did increased testability and enabling everyone to do foundational testing. Sharing knowledge across roles. Including diverse perspectives. All of that and more.</li><li><b>Increased systems thinking, higher focus on getting things done.</b> People started to realize which impact actions can have on a system overall. Starting to see flows and queues, throughput and waiting times, and more. How we can help each other across roles and main areas of expertise, how we can share the load. At times feedback is again slow, yet our flow improved massively compared to when starting out.</li><li><b>Trying things out becomes safer and more normal.</b> We're not having an experiment-driven culture yet, yet just feeling the freedom that we can make our own decisions and give something a try was liberating for the people on the team. We saw a lot more initiatives already and kept the good.</li><li><b>Becoming a team.</b> We all grew a lot closer - I can now really say we are a team indeed! It's heavily more pleasant to work in this team, experience the spirit, to co-create something great. And this is by far not the end of it, it's an ongoing journey.</li><li><b>Being seen as a different team.</b> Our reputation and outside perception already changed to the positive. We are continuously working on improving this, intentionally.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> you can be really proud of your team! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/justSaying?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#justSaying</a></p>— Patrick Prill (@TestPappy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TestPappy/status/1526860653385990144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul></div><div>We're also coming into calmer waters now, finally. We all acknowledged that for the time being we needed to make tough calls in favor of achieving the challenges we faced - like this gigantic epic to tackle. Yes, there had been a few hiccups, yet overall, I'm super glad things went very smoothly! Many thanks and kudos also to our neighbor team here including the very amazing <a href="https://twitter.com/TestPappy" target="_blank">Patrick Prill</a>. I loved the close and super supportive collaboration. They had a big part in this success and also a very positive impact on the team's journey.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also want to acknowledge that I'm now working on the most diverse team I've ever been on in my whole career. Ten people from nine countries of origin, people of four races, with three women, and also other aspects I'm aware of like educational background, parenting, and others. Yes, I'm sure we're missing out on certain perspectives. At the same time, we have as many as I never had combined in one team so far. Invaluable, I'm learning so much.</div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">It finally happened: for the very first time in my whole career I'm in the same team with not 0 or 1, but 2 other women! 🎉 Well, guess it helps that we're a huge team of 12 people, but still. Also aside from gender, this is truly the most diverse team I've been on so far! ❤</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1499140157018103809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><div>All this has not been an easy ride, it's been a real challenge. It will stay a challenge, I'm sure of that. Yet now we're truly in this together and can all make our way to better directions. We're growing and changing; the future awaits us.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">What helped make this transition?</h2><p></p><div>People within and outside the company asked me how I contributed to the team's transition. Yes, I had my part in it with initiatives as described above, yet there's been a lot of people working together to achieve this. Thinking about what helped me on this journey, I realized I'll need to think about this further. I am considering making this the subject of my next talk proposal, as I feel there might be inspiration in there to try out and build on. I'm sure there are many ways how things could work. Whenever we don't see any way right now, sharing experiences like these could trigger a new spark, something different we could try. For now, let me share a few more things that helped me in the last months.</div><div><p>Remember my post "<a href="https://www.lisihocke.com/2021/06/dear-future-me-i-am-not-alone.html" target="_blank">Dear Future Me: I Am Not Alone</a>"? At peak times, I really had to remind myself about this. I did not intend to get into a similar situation again, yet here I was. My own advice from last year still proved valuable for me this year again.</p><p>What else helped? Patience, patience, patience. And lots of optimism and hope. Adopting new mindsets, changing behaviors and shaping systems take a long time. We're working with humans after all, and are human ourselves. We won't always have our best days, either. I'm in for the long game! So, whenever I see anything praiseworthy, I'll celebrate. Really, celebrate each step on the journey, every little thing. It's where I gain lots of energy from to go through the less successful periods. You might see me do this publicly a lot. You might think from the outside it's all nice and shiny. I can tell you it isn't. It requires the same effort. It requires the same patience. I do celebrate every win, and we fail a lot more than that and that's okay. There's no shortcut I know of. There's still so much more to do and we have it in our own hands to do it.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">It's true! Optimism is where I draw a lot of energy from to keep moving towards better together. Trying to see the good in things and amplifying that. Framing less ideal situations as learning opportunities for all of us. Oh and I'm not always optimistic, just keeping practicing. <a href="https://t.co/o1i40J79WX">https://t.co/o1i40J79WX</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1549871275551727620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p>I drew a lot from what I've made good experiences with in the past. Like: approaching any situation with curiosity, showing you want to learn. Appreciating what's working, seeking the positive and turning up the good. Showing gratitude for help and explaining why it's impactful for me. Knowing people usually have good reasons why they behave in certain ways. Many people just never made good experiences or had opportunities or permission to try things out. So, let's give them just that, let them make their own experiences. Changing my own behavior - I cannot change them. Observing, gain ing transparency, creating awareness, luring people to experiment. Lots of "we" thinking, messages and also action. Leading by example. Being authentic and vulnerable, sharing as you go with all successes and failures. Not bothering with theory, yet getting down to tangible action. If it's not feasible, no one will pick it up anyway. Acting in ways to support people's work, not obstruct it or gatekeep. Using lots of pragmatism as well and not holding too closely to high ideals when we're trying to get foundations in place. Living very close to people and their needs. Speaking their language. Starting where we are and incrementally improving from there. Striving for better than we left it, yet never jumping to perfect - better is good enough for now. Explaining your reasoning behind actions or decisions, the why.</p><p>Not everyone is the same and that's great. I have early adopters as well as late adopters in the team - sometimes one person is both on different topics. Both types made huge transitions relatively to their own previous position. Someone who held back would now instantly go on calls with me. Someone who never did work together at the same time would now ask for people joining them to have more eyes on the same critical action. This might not be my own ideal for our future (which constantly changes anyway), and at the same time it is a huge step for them that I personally judge very positively. In short: don't expect to make everyone make the same jump at the same time. People need to go at their own pace and different things are differently challenging for them.</p><p>Work where work is visible for the people you'd like to lure into change (like ticket comments). Try not to convince them that certain things are valuable to do (test in isolation first, test the API only, read the code, test the tests, etc.). Instead, just do it and let the results and outcome convince them. Don't take it personally when it does not work out right away - remember, this takes a lot of time. Confidence helps - yet most often, we have to build our own confidence while we already need to take the team along, which is a challenge. Try to be clear about it yet not be put off. Yes, I also still need courage.</p><p>Just last week, I finally finished the amazing book "<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23287939-more-fearless-change" target="_blank">More Fearless Change</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryLynnManns" target="_blank">Mary Lynn Manns</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/RisingLinda" target="_blank">Linda Rising</a> - and realized I'm using a lot of the various patterns to help change mentioned in the book. It resonated so much with me, it's incredible. Really recommended read if you are up for change.</p><p>What else? Let's get to know each other and build relationships, we're in this together. Let's create a safe space for us. Then we can focus on learning, try things out and see what happens so we all improve and can do a bit better each day. So yes, first and foremost, dare to try something. Inaction does not help. Someone else will not fix it, or not in a way you'd like to have it. Take action yourself. It doesn't have to be perfect, just a bit better than yesterday. It doesn't have to be huge, just a tiny step. You don't have to be in a formal leadership position, you have power to change things from your very career start. Observe, try something, reflect on what happened. Based on this learning, try something else. Continue.</p></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">What's next?</h2><p>A lot happened in the last eight months. The team is not comparable anymore to the group of people I encountered when starting last December. We really started to craft our own narrative, and it's by far not the end. I'm looking forward to what the future holds for us and what we can do to help shape it to our team's as well as the organization's needs.</p><div>As we're now going back to a more sustainable pace, picking up things we had to drop in the last months, and also growing further as a team, a new exciting time is starting. There's a lot of topics to dive in to and further initiatives to drive from a team perspective. More problems to solve and friction to reduce. Lots of knowledge, skills and tools to learn to help us build a more valuable product. We can work on technical foundations now, grow into experimentation as a lived team culture, and make further connections with other teams. So much more to do. Lots of opportunity ahead, it's not getting boring any time soon!</div><div><br /></div><div>In addition, there's a few organizational topics I'd like to dive into. Now that we are returning to a usual work pace, I'll have more time to reflect, to really stop and think about my next endeavors and experiments. I'm thinking of more knowledge sharing across teams in various setups. I'm thinking of more hands-on collaboration across teams, especially more pairing and ensemble sessions. I'm also thinking of acting on organizational observations I've made over time to achieve change on a bigger scale. I'll have to see what to try first to learn fast, where I'll have the most impact, and what also adds to my own growth. I cannot tell what's next besides it's going to be in the same organizational context. I'm curious myself for the future.</div><p>Thinking of my team again, change really does take time for humans. We've come a long way in quite a short time and I'm grateful.</p><p><br /></p><h2>Bonus: Collaboration Celebrations</h2><div>You can see our team's transition reflected in my tweets over time. Some of them I already embedded above in context. Yet there's more, especially on increasing collaboration and growing closer as a team. Here's a tweet compilation to showcase the collaboration highlights of the last months. Remember, I celebrate every little thing and there's lots of white space in between. And still, there's so much worth in celebrating the good and the awesome people I have the honor to work with.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Received quite a few gifts from my colleagues in the form of feedback this week, and I'm grateful. 🙏🏻 Today's highlight came from a developer on my team: "You have a gift: when just talking to you, you create ideas in my head, even if you just listen." 🌟</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1474547900084637700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Four of my team stayed after daily to investigate an issue. Together, we found our missing clue, fixed it, it worked - and all of us learned new commands, shortcuts & insights from each other. Love these situations where implicit knowledge becomes explicit & hence multiplied! 🤩</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1491553266529976321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">What a fun work day! Joining expertise to understand security requirements together. Security testing on the app. Exchanging thoughts on building resilience in. Learning more about compliance and especially traceability. Cleaning up our wiki. Oh, and chatting about cats! 🐈</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1496623129183072256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Amazing pair testing session with a fellow developer today. He came to help, learned from me how we can test this at all, investigated together, he quickly realized what's wrong, we fixed it, explored further, solved new testability issues, got it done. 💪🏻 We both learned! 🙌🏻🎉</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1511455059518889987?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Highlight of today: a developer teammate praised me for always being on top of things & my story testing outcomes - my approach is new to them, really valuable & made them understand what exploratory testing is 😊 (no matter to what extent all of this is true, I'll take it 😉)</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1514014144722259975?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Highlight today: a frontend developer offered to pair test, we discovered missing functionality in a backend service and just implemented it. 💪🏻 There was more to it, yet I understood what needed changing, it worked & enabled our testing - love it when pieces fall into place! 🎉</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1514713851119513600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">This. This is what engineering *should* be; humans supporting, sharing, caring and making a difference for other humans.<br /><br />I am *immensely* proud of how far the team have come in the short time I've known them, and how much more there is ahead of us. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 <a href="https://t.co/qed9nQMogl">https://t.co/qed9nQMogl</a> <a href="https://t.co/2FPg1eJ2rD">pic.twitter.com/2FPg1eJ2rD</a></p>— David Williams (@TheTestingMuse) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheTestingMuse/status/1516858676736409601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Loved what a dear developer teammate brought up with me today during a knowledge sharing and pairing session: we all need to start feeling the pain of things not being smooth yet so we all are eager to improve them! 🙌🏻 So much this. Need to make issues visible and experienced.</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1517260087341031425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Paired with a developer today. Me: I found out how to see the app's state in this tool and how you can subscribe for changes if you provide a path! Him: Awesome! What if we don't provide a path? 🤯 We figured we can subscribe to the full state. 💪🏻 Pairing what ifs for the win. 🙌🏻</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1521255854636511233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pairing worked again today for me and my pairs. 💪🏻 1) It saved testing time and effort by effectively exchanging system knowledge and strategies - invaluable for that complex big topic we're working on. 2) It let two people see a problem and figure it out quickly together. 🙌🏻</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1523803381709561856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Today: A developer asked for a 2nd pair of eyes to test a change together. Another dev jumped in, they paired. Then I joined. In this spontaneous ensemble, we tested, identified gaps, decided to mitigate an issue, implemented & refactored, aligned our understanding. Effective! 💪🏻</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1524155306565066759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Last week ended on a high note. 1) My team took over all testing activities as I'm off this week, asked lots of great questions. I'm so curious what they will learn during this time! 💡 2) A spontaneous ensemble testing and releasing a bugfix. 💪🏻 3) I received amazing feedback 😊</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1526141155305398272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Today, I completed 6 months at my new company! 🎉 What a journey it's been, and there's a lot more to come! 💪🏻 Also today (coincidentally), I'm heading into 2 weeks time off, the longest for my team so far. I know they got this! 🙌🏻 As one dev said: "no worries, we practiced". 😊</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1531717036879101952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Wasn't my best day, yet you know what made it for me? Seeing my developer teammates still test their changes for each other and also with each other (pairing for the win) despite me being back at work! Just love seeing it. And enjoy my own share of testing & pairing as well. 😊</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1539716439757709313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">My highlight from work last week: pairing a lot with a fellow developer teammate. Learned about current system behavior (and more), found unexpected surprises, figured their cause, fixed & improved things right away as we went. Fast feedback and fast improvements! 💪🏻</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1540750671321845760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">We realized first hand how risky it would have been not to pair and bring our knowledge, experience and ideas together. Thinking out loud, our conversations triggered new ideas and experiments we then built on - we wouldn't have found quite critical issues without.</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1540750673071022081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Phew, what a day today! Four different ensembles on issue investigation, release documentation, test setup, system testing across teams. And a bonus pairing session with a developer teammate where we discovered JavaScript quirks, found a fix & added more tests! So effective. 🚀</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1550257943538540551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-77234845525258223882022-06-16T16:28:00.003+02:002022-06-16T16:33:14.752+02:00Agile Testing Days USA 2022 - A Wealth of Inspiration<p>A week ago, <a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days USA 2022</a> came to an end. A conference that we waited two years for to take place. Now a whole week has passed, and still there's so much on my mind from this event, so many things to think about and lots of inspiration to take action on. I've been fortunate to attend many conferences thanks to speaking, and yet this was the first one since a long time that hit the nail with everything. A wonderful mix of community spirit, awesome session content, amazing people - I took a lot with me. Here's my report on this journey. Brace yourself, it's been a long week and there's a lot to share.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Saturday</h2><p>Why waiting for the conference to start in order to start with conferring! Also, why not make use of a new location we're visiting and go for sightseeing? I just loved the opportunity to discover a bit of Chicago together with <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl" target="_blank">Alex Schladebeck</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/lisacrispin" target="_blank">Lisa Crispin</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/melthetester" target="_blank">Melissa Eadon</a>. Mel even came all the way to see us without attending the conference, and I'm so grateful for our many conversations.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">So exciting! I'm a lucky girl! Sightseeing day out with <a href="https://twitter.com/lisacrispin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisacrispin</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/melthetester?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@melthetester</a> starting at the field museum to see <a href="https://twitter.com/SUEtheTrex?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SUEtheTrex</a> again! <a href="https://t.co/jD0xm38BNI">pic.twitter.com/jD0xm38BNI</a></p>— Alex Schladebeck (she/her) (@alex_schl) <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl/status/1533099438335528960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">4 testers and <a href="https://twitter.com/SUEtheTrex?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SUEtheTrex</a> ! <a href="https://t.co/mBQNTrTMDQ">pic.twitter.com/mBQNTrTMDQ</a></p>— Alex Schladebeck (she/her) (@alex_schl) <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl/status/1533116630292738048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p>After seeing dinosaurs in the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Field Museum</a>, having a nice stroll through Chicago, enjoying <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago-style_pizza" target="_blank">deep dish pizza</a>, walking a bit more and getting ourselves coffee and scones, we headed back to the hotel. More people had arrived like my dear colleague <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/huibschoots" target="_blank">Huib Schoots</a>, and we met the wonderful organizers. It was a relaxed evening all together in the quiet staff room, enjoying this private kickoff before the event starts.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Sunday</h2><div>I had decided to join <a href="https://twitter.com/rahul_verma" target="_blank">Rahul Verma</a>'s two-day tutorial "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/the-joy-of-python-for-testers/" target="_blank">The Joy of Python for Testers</a>" and did not regret it. We learned a lot about programming and design, as well as the foundations to get started in Python. I am impressed how Rahul crafted the tutorial on the fly to make sure it's adapted to the participants! Two days is not a lot of time to dive into a new programming language, and I'm grateful for all the content covered. The tutorial inspired new ideas and was definitely worth it. Also, I appreciated the conversations with Rahul during and afterwards. It's fascinating to learn from sessions on a meta level as well - not only from the presented content, yet also from the way people teach, which approaches they take to convey knowledge. There's a lot to take with us for facilitating our own sessions, not only at conferences yet also back at work for our teams. Last but not least, this tutorial also granted the chance to meet new people like <a href="https://twitter.com/Mafervg1" target="_blank">Maria Vilatuña Galarraga</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-schumacher-b95223101/" target="_blank">Naomi Schumacher</a>, for the latter this being their first conference experience ever.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Super focused & engaged attendees at <a href="https://twitter.com/rahul_verma?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rahul_verma</a>’s 2-Day Tutorial. 🦄♥️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/QIGTKdxxbp">pic.twitter.com/QIGTKdxxbp</a></p>— Agile Testing Days USA (@AgileTDUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDUSA/status/1533925857173053440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p>The evening arrived, more people gathered and we enjoyed a lovely dinner together - very fortunate to meet people like <a href="https://twitter.com/jennydoesthings" target="_blank">Jenny Bramble</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/janetgregoryca" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a> again, and also see <a href="https://twitter.com/QueenTester" target="_blank">Erin Hess</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/KarenTestsStuff" target="_blank">Karen Todd</a> for the first time in real life. Precious moments together with lots of informal knowledge and experience sharing. For anyone who's never done it before - go for dinner with other conference people, make use of social spaces. This is where we can learn so much not only for our professions but for life.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Dinner at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agiletdusa?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agiletdusa</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> , <a href="https://twitter.com/melthetester?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@melthetester</a> , <a href="https://twitter.com/QueenTester?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@QueenTester</a> , <a href="https://twitter.com/KarenTestsStuff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KarenTestsStuff</a> , <a href="https://twitter.com/janetgregoryca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@janetgregoryca</a> , <a href="https://twitter.com/jennydoesthings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jennydoesthings</a> 💜💜💜🦄🦄🦄 So happy! <a href="https://t.co/10BRvtDOt6">pic.twitter.com/10BRvtDOt6</a></p>— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisacrispin/status/1533613488161140738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Agile Testing Days USA at its best! <a href="https://twitter.com/lisacrispin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisacrispin</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jennydoesthings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jennydoesthings</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/janetgregoryca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@janetgregoryca</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MelissaDBoggs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MelissaDBoggs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AngelaRiggs_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AngelaRiggs_</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/QueenTester?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@QueenTester</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/W6uTKcTjBV">pic.twitter.com/W6uTKcTjBV</a></p>— José Díaz (@jdiaz_berlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/jdiaz_berlin/status/1533620559858307080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Monday</h2><div>Rahul's tutorial continued, another day full of knowledge and learning. And then it was time to open the conference officially, to join the speakers' dinner and then afterwards the meet & greet together with everyone. More opportunity to see old friends again, like <a href="https://twitter.com/aahunsberger" target="_blank">Ashley Hunsberger</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/shivani_gaba_" target="_blank">Shivani Gaba</a>, and meet people in real life for the first time, like <a href="https://twitter.com/AngelaRiggs_" target="_blank">Angela Riggs</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/TheyWrestleTest" target="_blank">Jenna Charlton</a>. Ever grateful for our time together. </div><div><br /></div><div>Connecting with people is worth it in every aspect, you never know what comes around. For example, I learned that <a href="https://twitter.com/PaulHolland_TWN" target="_blank">Paul Holland</a> enjoys black tea! If you didn't know, I love black tea. This newly discovered commonality continuously brought us into conversation again and again - and the next days he even shared some of his personal tea with me, much appreciated Paul!</div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoyed all these conversations, and yet I knew this was only the beginning. The conference would start early in the morning, my own sessions were scheduled for the next days and hence I made the reasonable move of going to bed early.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">My first conference back, and I am feeling safe and cared for. Proof of vaccination. Testing (yes, I am negative). So many well-wishes and concern for my long covid and people reminding me to take care of myself. Well done <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDUSA</a> 🦄❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🦄</p>— Ashley Hunsberger (@aahunsberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/aahunsberger/status/1533884592368799744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Tuesday</h2><div>Let the conference begin! A long insightful day lay ahead.</div><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/early-morning-lean-coffee-with-lisa-crispin-janet-gregory-conf-day-1-2022/" target="_blank">Early Morning Lean Coffee</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/janetgregoryca" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/lisacrispin" target="_blank">Lisa Crispin</a>. On all Agile Testing Days events, I will join at least the first lean coffee session - I made a habit out of this that I never regretted so far. You never know which people will come, which topics will be brought and what insights you can take with you - and there's a lot of opportunity in that. This time once again, we had great topics to discuss. My personal takeaways: 1) Trying to meet new people at a conference? Be intentional about it, set a target of getting to know x new people and learn their names. 2) Something is scary or hard? Create habits and practice. 3) People not taking action? Be clear and explicit with expectations, support with questions and stay patient.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> Lean Coffee & Tea w/ <a href="https://twitter.com/lisacrispin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisacrispin</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/janetgregoryca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@janetgregoryca</a> ☕️ <a href="https://t.co/7pZpF7E9R1">pic.twitter.com/7pZpF7E9R1</a></p>— Agile Testing Days USA (@AgileTDUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDUSA/status/1534165821026717698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/career-choices-for-the-modern-day-tester/" target="_blank">Career Choices For The Modern Day Tester</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a>. I've seen the previous version of this keynote at <a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">AgileTD Open Air 2022</a>, and can only say this time around it was even better! Lots of relevant messages that people need to hear. Vernon encourages us to take our career into our own hands - in the end, we're the ones most invested in it. And if we don't control our own destiny someone else will! So figure out why you want to change, what you expect, who you want to become and stop waiting - instead, seize opportunities. Consistency beats perfection.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Career Choices For The Modern Day Tester" by <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TesterFromLeic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/9tm2wv9nH5">pic.twitter.com/9tm2wv9nH5</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260327171555333?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/growing-an-experiment-driven-quality-culture/" target="_blank">Growing an Experiment-driven Quality Culture</a>" by me. Despite some initial technical setup surprises, it seems I managed to convey my main messages according to the feedback received. I'm happy with how it went; it even seems to have been one of the better versions of this talk.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Let’s experiment with <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/lDBsmjtG7f">pic.twitter.com/lDBsmjtG7f</a></p>— Shivani Gaba (@shivani_gaba_) <a href="https://twitter.com/shivani_gaba_/status/1534197612038979589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> sharing that to drive quality culture to scale you must experiment in a transparent org. Start testing your own hypothesis. <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/2fxRGuo97C">pic.twitter.com/2fxRGuo97C</a></p>— Tristan Lombard 🇺🇦 (@TristanLombard2) <a href="https://twitter.com/TristanLombard2/status/1534198074737819648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/the-dos-and-donts-of-building-a-successful-agile-team/" target="_blank">The Do’s and Dont’s of Building a Successful Agile Team</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/Deena_McKay" target="_blank">Deena McKay</a>. This talk provided great input on how to form and foster good agile teams - which requires a shared base and also patience, this takes time. I really liked how Deena included the audience on the topic, actively made space for them and responded to their experiences and questions. She made a point that while she was speaking about Scrum teams here, she has experience with other agile methodologies as well and the main points are just as applicable there as well.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"The Do’s and Dont’s of Building a Successful Agile Team" by <a href="https://twitter.com/Deena_McKay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Deena_McKay</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/1MTuDTEnBT">pic.twitter.com/1MTuDTEnBT</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260340106858497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/the-truth-about-agile/" target="_blank">The Truth about Agile</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/melissadboggs" target="_blank">Melissa Boggs</a>. What a great reminder what the agile movement was actually about. We should build our organizations in such a way that they can listen closely and move quickly. I loved the closer look at the <a href="https://agilemanifesto.org/" target="_blank">agile manifesto</a> and <a href="https://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html" target="_blank">its principles</a> that I'm sure many newer people haven't seen yet. Practices without principles are ineffective at best and damaging at worst. Since a long time, this was the first session covering agile in a very helpful way. A great thing to walk through with our own teams.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"The Truth about Agile" by <a href="https://twitter.com/MelissaDBoggs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MelissaDBoggs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/bN02fabtK5">pic.twitter.com/bN02fabtK5</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260352090025984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li><a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/topic-roulette-1/" target="_blank">Topic Roulette #1</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/RisingLinda" target="_blank">Linda Rising</a>. In this bonus session, Linda offered a few topics she could talk about and we as participants could decide what we wanted to learn about. In our case, we went for the brain and critical thinking. Main insights: There was never any benefit for thinking critically, and lots of benefit for behaving irrationally. We'd like to think we're making logical decisions, yet the underlying reasons are completely unknown to us. We should be more humble and open and try to understand people, if we would all do that it might be a better world. The point is not to change someone unless it's you. Have conversations, emphasize, listen. As a species we're doing best when we're together; emphasize what we have in common, not our differences. Now, Linda is just amazing and has a wealth of knowledge she can present on the fly in a very insightful manner. Just loved it and took a lot with me. Could listen to Linda all day!</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/security-tooling-in-your-devops-pipeline/" target="_blank">Security Tooling in Your DevOps Pipeline</a>" by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancygariche/" target="_blank">Nancy Gariché</a>. Loved the topic! Nancy provided a great overview on how we can scale security expertise and knowledge while not having many experts around. Gatekeeping doesn't work, yet one thing that does is adding security checks in our pipelines. There's lots of different types of things we can run, and we can also do so asynchronously. I was especially intrigued to hear about security as code and am eager to dive into this deeper.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Security Tooling In Your Devops Pipeline" by Nancy Gariché <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/q9dmp99R5l">pic.twitter.com/q9dmp99R5l</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260364559695872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/an-easy-way-out/" target="_blank">An Easy Way Out</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/RisingLinda" target="_blank">Linda Rising</a>. Linda is just amazing, have I already said that? All the talks I've heard from her are worthwhile - and so is this one. Linda inspired us to try expressive writing as it is proven to reduce anxiety and lower stress hormones, and provided us an easy guideline along with it. I really like how she interweaves storytelling, scientific experiments and instant actions we can take - wonderful. Also, this topic is dearly needed by humans these stressful days.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"An Easy Way Out" by <a href="https://twitter.com/RisingLinda?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RisingLinda</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/tJW1O2yYaJ">pic.twitter.com/tJW1O2yYaJ</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260376496640002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul>The evening ended with the <a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/flower-power-costume-party/" target="_blank">Flower Power Costume Party</a> which provided more opportunity to meet up with people, like <a href="https://twitter.com/larissar" target="_blank">Larissa Rosochansky</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/rncintra" target="_blank">Rafael Cintra</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Morgsterious" target="_blank">Morgan Ahlström</a> and also <a href="https://twitter.com/KelsSchoen" target="_blank">Kelsey Schoen</a> - another first time conference joiner. Also great to see <a href="https://twitter.com/mikelyles" target="_blank">Mike Lyles</a> again, who gifted me a signed copy of his new book "<a href="https://www.thedrivethrubook.com/" target="_blank">The Drive-Thru Is Not Always Faster</a>", thanks Mike!<div><div><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Wednesday</h2><div><p></p>
<div>New conference day, new sessions. Today less talks and more workshops for me.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/personal-branding-storytelling/" target="_blank">Personal Branding & Storytelling</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/mentorafrika" target="_blank">Melissa Sassi</a>. At first, I was not sure where this keynote is leading up to - and then Melissa told her origin story, and it changed everything and gave all this so much meaning. She basically turned her personal nightmare into her super power. What a deep message! Very inspiring indeed. It made me think about my own origin story that I tell in different ways to different people - good trigger to look into this again. Our origin stories can not only let others know who we are and where we come from, yet also what drives us, what we want to achieve and why it matters to us.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Personal Branding and Storytelling" by <a href="https://twitter.com/mentorafrika?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mentorafrika</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/lXI58GMAqP">pic.twitter.com/lXI58GMAqP</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260388488105984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/superpower-to-empathize-with-our-users/" target="_blank">Superpower to empathize with our users</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/uditas13" target="_blank">Udita Sharma</a>. This was a great workshop that not only provided insightful ways how to discover usability issues or design for usability, yet also really engaged the participants hands-on. Udita encouraged us not to blame our users for design problems - they are just trying to solve their needs and will do so with any means necessary. How to catch design problems upfront? We learned about cognitive walkthroughs, a "formalized way of imagining people's thought and actions when they will be using an interface". We can include usability with just asking simple questions like "Is the action intuitive?" and "Is the feedback appropriate?" - and if not, why not? Loved all the examples that made the content very tangible, as well as the exercise that confronted us with our own biases. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The wonderful Udita Sharma <a href="https://twitter.com/uditas13?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@uditas13</a> enjoying her Workshop "Superpower to empathize with our users" with her participants at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> 🤩 <a href="https://t.co/wvZD43Vu1q">pic.twitter.com/wvZD43Vu1q</a></p>— Agile Testing Days USA (@AgileTDUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDUSA/status/1534579053273006082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/how-i-lost-my-job-by-attending-to-agile-testing-days/" target="_blank">How I lost my job by attending to Agile Testing Days</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/jjcannegieter" target="_blank">Jan Jaap Cannegieter</a>. A vulnerable story full of self-reflection reminding us on what's actually important. He shared he was happy before agile came - though probably not everyone around him was happy. When agile gained traction, it was hard for him to find his new role and position in a changed world - is he as a manager needed at all anymore? Until he figured out that it's not about agile or not - it's about finding happiness. I loved that he encouraged us not to stick to our job descriptions but to do what provides value to the organization.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"How I lost my job by attending to Agile Testing Days" by <a href="https://twitter.com/jjcannegieter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jjcannegieter</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ew7Sl23XQG">pic.twitter.com/Ew7Sl23XQG</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260400173527042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/ensemble-exploratory-testing/" target="_blank">Ensemble Exploratory Testing</a>" by me. I've given this workshop multiple times already, and while it's up to me to set the scene so participants can thrive, the outcome is always different depending on the people joining. This time around I had a wonderful group giving ensembling a first try and exploring an API together - it was a blast seeing them thrive and learn lots of things in short time in an effective way! Seems they had lots of fun, too. What else could I hope for?<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Ensemble Exploratory Testing” is the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> Workshop held by <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a>! 💻 <a href="https://t.co/2B2UfLlH0Q">pic.twitter.com/2B2UfLlH0Q</a></p>— Agile Testing Days USA (@AgileTDUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDUSA/status/1534639124572930049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">So pumped and inspired after <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a>’s Ensemble Testing workshop at <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDUSA</a>! Do yourself a favor and attend it whenever you have a chance! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/conference?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#conference</a></p>— Michał Krzyżanowski (@automatingguy) <a href="https://twitter.com/automatingguy/status/1534659193218781184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Took an ensemble testing workshop from <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> today and it put the wind back in my sails. Just totally positive and awesome. She’s fantastic. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a></p>— Phil Wells 🌻 (@thephilwells) <a href="https://twitter.com/thephilwells/status/1534658657539051521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote panel "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/creating-a-diverse-and-inclusive-world-in-the-digital-age/" target="_blank">Creating a diverse and inclusive world in the digital age</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/deena_mckay" target="_blank">Deena McKay</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancygariche/" target="_blank">Nancy Gariché</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/epsilon11" target="_blank">Raj Subrameyer</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/tolu_xyz" target="_blank">Tolu Adegbite</a>. We need to hear underrepresented people more and listen to their stories and experiences. That was the best part of this panel - hearing the voices of these women, whatever they were willing to share. Not only on stage for the panel, yet also later on in the human space. We definitely need more of this. A few essential takeaways for me: 1) Always call microaggressions out. 2) Be open about your salary, it can make a difference for someone else. 3) Actively look for sponsoring opportunities.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Creating a diverse and inclusive world in the digital age" by <a href="https://twitter.com/Deena_McKay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Deena_McKay</a>, Nancy Gariché, <a href="https://twitter.com/tolu_xyz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tolu_xyz</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/epsilon11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@epsilon11</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/6p1aepeP6R">pic.twitter.com/6p1aepeP6R</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260410772541440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li><a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/the-friends-allies-human-space/" target="_blank">The Friends & Allies - Human Space</a>. Yes, more of this. More people, more stories to be told and heard. I am ever grateful for everyone sharing their experiences in this space. I felt my place there was to listen, and then go and take action. I've been diversifying my sources for a while now, and feel it's time again to seek out new voices. I also need to talk more with other white people about what I've understood so far. And definitely, I am still working on calling things out as I see them, not letting them slide - it's a continuous learning journey.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Thursday</h2><div>Last day of the conference, time flew by! This was another great one.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/the-experimentation-mindset/" target="_blank">The Experimentation Mindset</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/DocOnDev" target="_blank">Doc Norton</a>. The topic is dear to my heart and the speaker did a great job demonstrating the benefits of experimenting. Great storytelling as well! The moment he realized successful people went off script? That triggered him to think, challenge assumptions and try new things. We need to make failure acceptable, think big and start small, as well as discover leading practices for our context - practices that are currently great until we discover better ones through experimentation. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"The Experimentation Mindset" by <a href="https://twitter.com/DocOnDev?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DocOnDev</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/yW8cPUeOrx">pic.twitter.com/yW8cPUeOrx</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260421635788801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/coaching-skills-for-testers-a-primer/" target="_blank">Coaching Skills For Testers - A Primer.</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a>. Coaching is about asking questions to help people gain a new insight or perspective, not telling them what to do. It requires unconditional positive regard and active listening. Ask powerful questions to further explore the situation with them, help them define and manage it. It's hard not to steer in a certain direction with questions! Yet the best person to solve the problem is the coachee, they have the full context. I loved this space to practice and experience coaching! Vernon provided a great concise introduction with the most essential tools, and gave ample of time for hands-on exercises, supporting us throughout the way. Exactly what I hope for in a workshop. I learned not only about coaching, but also about myself and gained new insights. Super valuable!<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TesterFromLeic</a> starts his Workshop “Coaching Skills for Testers: A Primer.” w/ answering questions from the audience. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/wDUVRVgxfe">pic.twitter.com/wDUVRVgxfe</a></p>— Agile Testing Days USA (@AgileTDUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDUSA/status/1534924722722508801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/towards-a-future-of-self-testing-systems/" target="_blank">Towards a Future of Self-Testing Systems</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/tariq_king" target="_blank">Tariq King</a>. Great session on topics we don't speak about too often yet (still): testing on production as well as making use of AI in testing. Tariq made clear that testing in production is not insufficient pre-production testing, it adds to it - and the future of testing is definitely production which is the only reality there is. It will also include AI as software has become more dynamic - and success for adaptive systems cannot be measured offline pre-production. AI supports self-testing and also requires it at the same time. Lots of food for thought! Awesome presentation as well.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Towards a Title of Self-Testing Systems" by <a href="https://twitter.com/tariq_king?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tariq_king</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/4n9dKqDBR4">pic.twitter.com/4n9dKqDBR4</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260434415714306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/team-work-isnt-always-a-dream/" target="_blank">Team Work Isn‘t Always A Dream: Building A Culture Of Accountability</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/drrochellecarr" target="_blank">Dr. Rochelle Carr</a>. What a great talk on accountability in teams - just loved it. Lots of actionable wisdom shared with lots of energy! Much food for thought to act on for our own teams and companies. One thing that really intrigued me is not to settle for mediocrity! We need to have a vision for our team, create a culture of trust and take action - as only action will make it work.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Team Work Isn't Always A Dream: Building A Culture Of Accountability" by <a href="https://twitter.com/drrochellecarr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@drrochellecarr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/yLjvC41Sdr">pic.twitter.com/yLjvC41Sdr</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260447107784705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/distributed-exploratory-testing-embrace-the-chaos/" target="_blank">Distributed Exploratory Testing - Embrace the Chaos</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrishanDev" target="_blank">Chrishan Perera</a>. Great story on how not to settle for an unsatisfactory status quo and instead go ahead, take action and try something different. Just loved how Chrishan's colleagues see CHAOS as an acronym: "Chrishan has an odd suggestion"! When you see chaos, embrace it - something beautiful can come out of it.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Distributed Exploratory Testing - Embrace the Chaos" by <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrishanDev?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrishanDev</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/Put4C6GVeg">pic.twitter.com/Put4C6GVeg</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260458881159168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/building-a-developer-tester-relationship/" target="_blank">Building a developer-tester relationship</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/bjvta" target="_blank">Brandon Jason Valle Tamayo</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/janetgregoryca" target="_blank">Janet Gregory</a>. When Janet and Lisa set out to have a new web app for their courses built, things didn't go exactly as they hoped for. In fact, the collaboration with the developers was lacking at best! In the end, they managed to turn this around to a beautiful outcome - together. Loved the storytelling and the vulnerability included in this talk. We all make mistakes; this was leading by example how to acknowledge our mistakes and do better. Investing in building good relationships really pays off!<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Building a developer-tester relationship" by <a href="https://twitter.com/bjvta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bjvta</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/janetgregoryca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@janetgregoryca</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/noilPoav0q">pic.twitter.com/noilPoav0q</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260471027900417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/session/the-last-keynote-on-software-testing/" target="_blank">The Last Keynote on Software Testing</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/rahul_verma" target="_blank">Rahul Verma</a>. Rahul had a ready-made talk for this conference. Then the event was postponed for two years, and now he's a different person. The old talk didn't feel right anymore. So, he decided not to do this talk that would be so convenient and comfortable to just give - and instead showed lots of courage and vulnerability coming with no prepared talk at all. This made it possible for him to share a way more impactful and authentic, raw talk right from the heart. He asked lots of hard questions without necessarily having the answers: Are we allowing speakers to be weak and human? Are we expecting people just to entertain us instead of sharing deep knowledge? Are we really passionate about what we do or is it another lie we tell ourselves? Why are we not valuing specialists anymore? How can we get out of this and grow our craft further? It really made people think and asked them to take action. Thoughtful and inspiring, a great last keynote indeed.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"The Last Keynote on Software Testing" by <a href="https://twitter.com/rahul_verma?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rahul_verma</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/uXjgGgPDw0">pic.twitter.com/uXjgGgPDw0</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536260483262693377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul></div><div>The final conference evening was full of great conversations again. Including jokes! (Thanks Chrishan for the "schattiges Plätzchen" that I can't get out of my head anymore... ^^) I really appreciated everyone that stayed around, including lots of people for whom this was their very first conference. Seems we did a few things right this time in the never-ending effort to make conferences a welcoming space for everyone and not end up in elite cliques.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Friday, Saturday, Sunday</h2><div>After the conference is before the conference! At least when it comes to sightseeing. I just loved that lots of people still were around and open for discovering new places and having food together. A great combination of enjoyment as well as reflecting on what we learned at the conference.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/maryamumar" target="_blank">Maryam Umar</a> for a wonderful tea and pancakes breakfast and visiting the <a href="https://www.artic.edu/" target="_blank">Art Institute of Chicago</a> with me. Many thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a> once more for long and deep conversations about all kinds of things in the evening. Many thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/automatingguy" target="_blank">Michał Krzyżanowski</a> for extending his stay and join me on a visit to the <a href="https://www.sheddaquarium.org/" target="_blank">Shedd aquarium</a>, a long walk through Chicago's different quarters, as well as the <a href="https://mortonarb.org/" target="_blank">Morton Arboretum</a>. If you're keen to see photos, just <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lisihocke/" target="_blank">ask to follow me on Instagram</a>.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">When two speakers unite… a morning in Chicago with <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ck4gwC4Ypl">pic.twitter.com/Ck4gwC4Ypl</a></p>— Maryam Umar (@maryamumar) <a href="https://twitter.com/maryamumar/status/1535343649394925572?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2022</a></blockquote><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Conclusion</h2><div>Overall? It was an amazing experience. So much to learn, share, and especially take with me. Really, this time I have a lot more to take home with me than with other conferences in the past. My follow-up actions range from ideas for new sessions, to insights about myself to change my own behavior, to ways of practicing my skills, to inspiration for a new personal challenge, to lots of things to try at work. It's a long list indeed!</div><div><br /></div><div>Was everything perfect? No, it wasn't - the venue for once was troublesome this time and I cannot leave unmentioned that rooms were freezing cold, even for American standards. The warmth of the community, however, outweighs this by far. I'm ever so thankful for everyone who made this feasible and happen - special shout-out to the wonderful organizers here! You created a very unique event, once again.</div></div></div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">So much 💜 at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agiletdusa?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agiletdusa</a>, my heart is full. Thank you, amazing organizers! 💜💜💜🦄🦄🦄 <a href="https://t.co/NW5KkLO3WB">https://t.co/NW5KkLO3WB</a></p>— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisacrispin/status/1535083597996371968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I'm about to start my journey home from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDUSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDUSA</a>. It was amazing! 🤩 I'm overly grateful for all the people who made this possible and all those who made it a wonderful experience. So much to take home: insights, ideas, connectedness, new relationships, memories, emotions. ❤</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1536412893238988800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-909564683308195950.post-9849035023264179732022-05-24T23:55:00.000+02:002022-05-24T23:55:07.414+02:00AgileTD Open Air 2022 - A Unicorn Conference Outdoors<p>If you know me, you probably know that I'm not an outdoor person at all. I do enjoy nature, yet if it's up to me, you'll find me indoors. Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in an outdoor conference, the first <a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">AgileTD Open Air</a>. Amazing idea, be it for pandemic times or any time! Not exactly the perfect match for me, though - yet I really wanted to see these people again and learn together. So I decided to join the event and it surprised me in many beautiful ways and I can only recommend you to seize the opportunity next year if you can.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Monday</h2><div>The conference itself was only scheduled for 2.5 days, yet I decided to take it slow and arrive early. The first nice surprise: meeting <a href="https://twitter.com/VeraLittleTree" target="_blank">Vera Baum</a> at the train station and making our way to the hotel together. As usual, a few people were already there, so more reunions to celebrate.</div><div><br /></div><div>After a short break, we all went for the speakers dinner. The organizers had invited us to a fancy golf club restaurant where we enjoyed equally fancy (and tasty) food and lots of amazing conversations. What to talk about at speakers dinner? Everything! It ranged from current work experiences to computer game recommendations, from confidence struggles to personal challenges, from societal pressures to coping mechanism tips and tricks - and so on. Back at the hotel, we continue these conversations at the hotel bar, diving into team dynamics, testability, leadership and our personal journeys that brought us here.</div><div><br /></div><div>Special kudos to <a href="https://twitter.com/ThomasTheYoung" target="_blank">Tom Young</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/VinWijNL" target="_blank">Vincent Wijnen</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Annosofie" target="_blank">Anne Colder</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ClareCatherine6" target="_blank">Clare Norman</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaKutz" target="_blank">Michael Kutz</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/PvanEnkhuijzen" target="_blank">Patrick van Enkhuijzen</a> for making this first evening very special! My heart was already full even before the conference began.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Warming up for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> during speaker's dinner at this amazing restaurant. We all are super thankful we can finally meet again.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MissingSteffiIsaSabine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MissingSteffiIsaSabine</a> <a href="https://t.co/KVd9mTj0my">pic.twitter.com/KVd9mTj0my</a></p>— Ina #AgileTDUSA 🏳️🌈 (@Ina_Hoelzel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ina_Hoelzel/status/1526279708580753408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Had a wonderful kickoff into <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> Open Air yesterday! Met looks of amazing people already, had deep and insightful conversations, an amazing dinner and overall just a lovely time. Let the first conference day begin! 😊</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1526545453524860929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Tuesday</h2><div>This was a day to sleep in and properly rest before the conference started. Also, a chance to practice my talk once more, of course (no matter how many I have given already, this is part of my coping strategy). And then it was time to take the shuttle to the event location - outdoors. It was a beach next to a lovely lake relatively close to Cologne. On the bus, I really enjoyed my conversations with <a href="https://twitter.com/guna_lv" target="_blank">Guna Petrova</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/constancehermit" target="_blank">Constance Armitage</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bastian-knerr/" target="_blank">Bastian Knerr</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinnphan/" target="_blank">Quyen Phan</a> and Raluca - this being the first conference for the latter ones which I just love to see.</div><div><br /></div><div>When arriving, the trail to the lake was already marked with unicorn hoof prints, leading us the way. In case you've never had the opportunity to visit an Agile Testing Days edition, unicorns became the mascot and signature feature, so you can expect to find lots of them throughout.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">We are set!<a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDOpenAir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/L8WS6pBax2">pic.twitter.com/L8WS6pBax2</a></p>— José Díaz (@jdiaz_berlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/jdiaz_berlin/status/1526175891570708492?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Did you ever see so much colour on one photo 🌈 feeling right at home here at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> <a href="https://t.co/bvRaRnWuzo">pic.twitter.com/bvRaRnWuzo</a></p>— Clare Norman (@ClareCatherine6) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClareCatherine6/status/1526631424396255234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The city of Cologne introduced new traffic signs just for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agileTD</a> 🦄 <a href="https://t.co/KlWWTaRkOC">pic.twitter.com/KlWWTaRkOC</a></p>— Christian Baumann (@chrissbaumann) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrissbaumann/status/1527029626568069120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><div><br /></div><div>It was time to see even more community friends again! My dear colleagues <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca" target="_blank">João Proença</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a>, my workshop pair <a href="https://twitter.com/simonbernerdev" target="_blank">Simon Berner</a>, as well as <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl" target="_blank">Alex Schladebeck</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/anastasiachicu" target="_blank">Anastasia Chicu</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/LenaPejgan" target="_blank">Lena Wiberg</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Der_Pesse" target="_blank">Samuel Nitsche</a> and many more. Also: time to enjoy the opening keynote!</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Keynote "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/career-choices-for-the-modern-day-tester/" target="_blank">Career Choices For The Modern Day Tester</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a>. I just loved it, it was a perfect opener to get into the mood and engage people to craft their own narrative and journey. Vernon reminded us to really think about why we want certain things like a specific job, role or title, and provided concrete advice on what we can do to make it happen. Amazing stage performance as always on top - perfect combination!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"The many small consistent steps over a long time will pay off more likely than waiting for the big surprise promotion"<a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TesterFromLeic</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/WUd0JhOj0s">pic.twitter.com/WUd0JhOj0s</a></p>— Samuel Nitsche (@Der_Pesse) <a href="https://twitter.com/Der_Pesse/status/1526592875064082435?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"You have much more power than you think. And even with the best manager: the person who cares most about your career is: YOU! Make it easy for people to give you what you want."<a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TesterFromLeic</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/zmBKKIAVTU">pic.twitter.com/zmBKKIAVTU</a></p>— Samuel Nitsche (@Der_Pesse) <a href="https://twitter.com/Der_Pesse/status/1526589816984543232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Career Choices For The Modern Day Tester" by <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TesterFromLeic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/HFmpR1DHBs">pic.twitter.com/HFmpR1DHBs</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527735637150994432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul></div><div>Afterwards: amazing barbecue, such good food. The evening continued in a very relaxed way with even more wonderful deep conversations. From enjoying late night snacks, to sitting at the bonfire, speaking with <a href="https://twitter.com/WhoIsJens" target="_blank">Jens</a> about how important recognition is for everyone of us, to going back to the hotel and letting the evening come to an end at the bar in great company. You'll see also in the following - the organizers really understand how essential it is to give lots of space for these conversations to emerge, to really confer with people, make connections, getting inspired from each and everyone - not only the speakers.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">What a great first day at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a>! Met loads of people that I follow from Twitter and also met new people! Enjoyed the conversations 😃<br /><br />Also, <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TesterFromLeic</a>’s keynote was amazing! <a href="https://t.co/7yD9aQGHbU">pic.twitter.com/7yD9aQGHbU</a></p>— Marie Drake (@mcruzdrake) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcruzdrake/status/1526669282582507520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> Game Night into full swing! 🏈🧩🃏♠️🎲<br />Totally enjoying the perfect sand and location! <a href="https://t.co/MOpCnhcYln">pic.twitter.com/MOpCnhcYln</a></p>— AgileTD Open Air (@AgileTDOpenAir) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDOpenAir/status/1526631601416855557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Wednesday</h2><div>The first full day started with a (very early) shuttle bringing everyone to the location. Getting myself a cup of coffee, finally meeting <a href="https://twitter.com/mcruzdrake" target="_blank">Marie Drake</a> in person, and then it was already time to start with the program!</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/lean-coffee/" target="_blank">Lean coffee</a> hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl" target="_blank">Alex Schladebeck</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca" target="_blank">João Proença</a>. Love these sessions as they are invaluable to get advice and input from different people and to get participants realize what they have to share. In my case, I took an idea with me to make testing our services locally easier.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Lean Coffee <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDOpenAir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agiletdopenair?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agiletdopenair</a> <a href="https://t.co/P9ZHdWI6oG">pic.twitter.com/P9ZHdWI6oG</a></p>— José Díaz (@jdiaz_berlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/jdiaz_berlin/status/1526825578258698240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li><a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/key-speech-1/" target="_blank">Daily Morning Short Key-Speech</a>: "Servant Leadership" by <a href="https://twitter.com/PvanEnkhuijzen" target="_blank">Patrick van Enkhuijzen</a>. I totally agreed with the emphasis on fulfilling your own needs first. The importance of being vulnerable, that leadership starts with yourself, that recognition plays a huge part - and that it's not about solving the problems for others. Great storytelling as well!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Servant Leadership" by <a href="https://twitter.com/PvanEnkhuijzen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PvanEnkhuijzen</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/CZdLUAYdUh">pic.twitter.com/CZdLUAYdUh</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527735646953021440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/how-to-make-team-meetings-not-suck/" target="_blank">How To Make Team Meetings Not Suck</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/LenaPejgan" target="_blank">Lena Wiberg</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Der_Pesse" target="_blank">Samuel Nitsche</a>. Loved that the workshop was really hands-on, we could experience various settings and practice navigating them, uncovering the different dynamics with different people and formats. Also lots of valuable tips on top how to make meetings valuable! My main takeaways: Value people's time. Meetings are everyone's responsibility, not only the facilitator's. Include everyone and make sure their voices are considered. Have a clear agenda with a common desired outcome! Be extremely explicit. And finally: make yourself heard - especially if you trained yourself to give space first (which is very valuable and still we also need space ourselves).<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Awesome <a href="https://twitter.com/Der_Pesse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Der_Pesse</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/LenaPejgan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LenaPejgan</a> just started their workshop on How to Make Team Meetings Not Suck <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDOpenAir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDOpenAir</a>. A wonderful cooperation unfolds!! <a href="https://t.co/7Jpi0EswjB">pic.twitter.com/7Jpi0EswjB</a></p>— Ina #AgileTDUSA 🏳️🌈 (@Ina_Hoelzel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ina_Hoelzel/status/1526851528706797568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">People are very engaged with meeting two in <a href="https://twitter.com/LenaPejgan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LenaPejgan</a> and my workshop "How to make meetings not suck"<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/dzRGhqMBVA">pic.twitter.com/dzRGhqMBVA</a></p>— Samuel Nitsche (@Der_Pesse) <a href="https://twitter.com/Der_Pesse/status/1526854748607074307?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/growing-an-experiment-driven-quality-culture/" target="_blank">Growing an Experiment-driven Quality Culture</a>" by myself. I was really happy to have the indoor stage for my talk, yet also wondered if anyone would want to leave the sunshine to join me. Was glad to see people showing up! Seems the talk went pretty well, I received interesting questions and also personal feedback that was really promising. Overall, the conversations made me think. First, what would happen if we set up experiments with the goal to disprove a hypothesis instead of trying to prove it (and hence confirmation bias easily kicking in). Second, an aspect I don't mention explicitly in my talk that I've seen as a pattern over and over again: talking about testing and quality usually uncovers underlying communication and collaboration issues, we have to solve these first before we can actually focus on testing and quality. Third, change is hard; humans tend to fall back to what they know and are familiar with. We gravitate to where there is less effort, energy and friction, where things are flowing, where we clearly experience what's in it for us. Lastly, it is hard to initiate change against resistance, and this resistance could be our own; do I really want to make it happen or do I just like the thought of me in that role?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> presenting a blueprint for formulating a hypothesis. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agileTD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/NYOhtylmUg">pic.twitter.com/NYOhtylmUg</a></p>— Christian Baumann (@chrissbaumann) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrissbaumann/status/1526889696906858497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> "Metrics are awesome, if they are local!"<br />Important bit of wisdom here!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/c9VnCodXHi">pic.twitter.com/c9VnCodXHi</a></p>— Christian Baumann (@chrissbaumann) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrissbaumann/status/1526892640884629509?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The slides for my talk at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> can be found here ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/do40H35IDr">https://t.co/do40H35IDr</a> <a href="https://t.co/CKo7hAGjqy">https://t.co/CKo7hAGjqy</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527727616115060741?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/all-good-things-come-to-those-who-wait-dynamically/" target="_blank">All Good Things Come to Those Who Wait ... Dynamically</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/rahul_verma" target="_blank">Rahul Verma</a>. I liked the emphasis on using what languages offer directly and learning about design patterns, over separating and limiting ourselves with frameworks.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"All Good Things Come to Those Who Wait... Dynamically" by <a href="https://twitter.com/rahul_verma?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rahul_verma</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/r5hBEQHTjf">pic.twitter.com/r5hBEQHTjf</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527735658751700995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/question-askers/" target="_blank">Question Askers</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl" target="_blank">Alex Schladebeck</a>. This was absolutely brilliant. I admire the bravery and courage to share such an important message using such personal stories. Questions we all need to hear and think about. So much food for thought in this amazing keynote!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">A super valuable, beautiful, touching, brave, hard-hitting, impactful talk by <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alex_schl</a> - setting an example of industry leaders being vulnerable, open and honest on stage. Extremely well done, many compliments and as many thanks 💙💙💙 <a href="https://t.co/HobDGzkG9J">pic.twitter.com/HobDGzkG9J</a></p>— Wicked Witch of the Test (@witchofthetest) <a href="https://twitter.com/witchofthetest/status/1527622937804775425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Awesome and gorgeous <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alex_schl</a> rocking the stage with a very personal keynote on questions. Great personal stories on how she copes with her thoughts, values and believes. Asking (yourself) a lot of questions helps. Asking for help does too. 💕 <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDOpenAir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/0NrGHjZTHv">pic.twitter.com/0NrGHjZTHv</a></p>— Huib Schoots (@huibschoots) <a href="https://twitter.com/huibschoots/status/1526926428738097158?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I propose this talk by <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alex_schl</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDOpenAir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDOpenAir</a> as one of the most legendary, engaging, and supportive talks in ATD history. <br /><br />150% true, authentic and on the spot. <br /><br />Questions to ask. <a href="https://t.co/8PN8cWrZPy">pic.twitter.com/8PN8cWrZPy</a></p>— Andreas Schliep 🇺🇦 (@andreasschliep) <a href="https://twitter.com/andreasschliep/status/1526923819654565888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Question Askers" by <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alex_schl</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/DDA3MVXAsD">pic.twitter.com/DDA3MVXAsD</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527735669392646147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul>With the official program being over, the bonus activities started. People could choose from going for a swim or run, playing beach volleyball, just relaxing, or - going on a <a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/scavenger-hunt/" target="_blank">scavenger hunt</a> hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/TG2G" target="_blank">Søren Wassard</a>! Well, I couldn't resist the latter. Lucky me, <a href="https://twitter.com/witchofthetest" target="_blank">Veerle Verhagen</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/MlleSophiePofie" target="_blank">Sophie Küster</a> took me in - and this team was fabulous! Twenty tasks within two hours, and we completed each and every one (we might have gotten a tiny little bit ambitious - hope it wasn't too bad for everyone else to endure us). Our ambitions also paid off, on the very last minute and thanks to a very nice neighbor team who shared their answer with us, we actually won the "childish" price Søren had for us!<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The winning team and the winning sandcastle! <a href="https://t.co/bKcRqz9ZB0">pic.twitter.com/bKcRqz9ZB0</a></p>— Sophie (@MlleSophiePofie) <a href="https://twitter.com/MlleSophiePofie/status/1526968133042446336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> community, quick question: is this the best sandcastle ever or what?! It has actual fire going on!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agileatD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agileatD</a> <a href="https://t.co/CV5mVhlfvn">pic.twitter.com/CV5mVhlfvn</a></p>— Sophie (@MlleSophiePofie) <a href="https://twitter.com/MlleSophiePofie/status/1526964072411021315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><div>Another lovely barbecue, another long evening full of conversations and stories. Just loved it.</div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Close to calling it a day! This is such an outstanding event and location! ⛱️🦄<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> <a href="https://t.co/DoGzVS74ln">pic.twitter.com/DoGzVS74ln</a></p>— Christian Baumann (@chrissbaumann) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrissbaumann/status/1526670628320907264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Thursday</h2><div>The last day came far too soon (and the morning too early - I'm just really not a morning person). This time, no lean coffee for me, as <a href="https://twitter.com/simonbernerdev" target="_blank">Simon Berner</a> and I made final arrangements for our upcoming workshop. Many thanks to Simon for realizing in time that the location's wifi connection was very poor, it would not even allow us to open our prepared Miro board. Even more thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/JanEumann" target="_blank">Jan Eumann</a> for kindly creating a powerful hotspot for us that made the whole thing work!</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/key-speech-2/" target="_blank">Daily Morning Short Key-Speech</a>: "You're already incredible! You just don't know it yet" by <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic" target="_blank">Vernon Richards</a>. Loved the message! Especially that we are all humans and alike, and the only thing that differs between a speaker and others is that we have been given a platform with this stage. I bet it inspired more people to start sharing their experiences and also to accept praise when they did something well.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">One quote I remember, listening to <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TesterFromLeic</a> talking about how you can and should talk about topics that others have already covered :<br /><br />'you are a story that has never been told in this way before' <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDOpenAir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDOpenAir</a></p>— Alex Schladebeck (she/her) (@alex_schl) <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_schl/status/1527204198521180160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"You're already incredible! You just don't know it yet" by <a href="https://twitter.com/TesterFromLeic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TesterFromLeic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/4etWpcORpO">pic.twitter.com/4etWpcORpO</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527735680666947584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/pairing-level-up/" target="_blank">Pairing - Level Up!</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/simonbernerdev" target="_blank">Simon Berner</a> and me. We already gave this workshop once for the remote edition of <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a> 2020 and were eager to facilitate it as an onsite version. And it seems we got our participants started with foundations of different pairing styles, deliberately practicing using constraints. Some even got inspired to go for more! What else could we want? It was a great experience and we're looking forward to give this workshop at other places in the future as well, hopefully also in an extended version some time.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Attended a great workshop by <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lisihocke</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/simonbernerdev?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@simonbernerdev</a> <br />on pairing today at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/bartthetester?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bartthetester</a>. I want to solve all the puzzles NOW!!</p>— Sriram Ilango (@sriramtweets) <a href="https://twitter.com/sriramtweets/status/1527362016943427584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Before I drove back home <a href="https://twitter.com/sriramtweets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sriramtweets</a> helped me to navigate today. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/workshop?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#workshop</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/ElBN0J1qOK">pic.twitter.com/ElBN0J1qOK</a></p>— Bart The Tester (@bartthetester) <a href="https://twitter.com/bartthetester/status/1527420327982252058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">It's a wrap! First onsite version of <a href="https://twitter.com/simonbernerdev?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@simonbernerdev</a> and my workshop "Pairing - Level Up!" is done at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTD</a> Open Air and it was a blast! Loved all the collaboration going on. Time flies by when deliberately practicing our pairing skills. 🙌🏻🍐🚀</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527238024203014144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/limitless-within-our-boundaries/" target="_blank">Limitless within our boundaries</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca" target="_blank">João Proença</a>. This is the second version I've heard of the keynote and it became even better! João conveyed such an important message that you can apply right away, not only at work yet everywhere you go. Amazing stage presence and storytelling!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">It is really great to see how <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jrosaproenca</a> is showing the paradox of choice with examples of his own life as well as <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/starwars?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#starwars</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTDOpenAir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/T4MnEZUSLi">pic.twitter.com/T4MnEZUSLi</a></p>— Dr. Bäumchen (@VeraLittleTree) <a href="https://twitter.com/VeraLittleTree/status/1527254105349050370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Limitless within our boundaries" by <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jrosaproenca</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/10gJotUaxF">pic.twitter.com/10gJotUaxF</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527735692285165569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/how-we-use-post-mortems-to-build-a-quality-culture/" target="_blank">How we use post-mortems to build a quality culture</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/anastasiachicu" target="_blank">Anastasia Chicu</a>. Really interesting story of a post-mortem. I liked that this was an example of when things didn't go well and what we can do to learn from these situations in an effective manner. Lots to take from for running our own post-mortems in better ways.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"How we use post-mortems to build a quality culture" by <a href="https://twitter.com/anastasiachicu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@anastasiachicu</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/ByauSu4wQ8">pic.twitter.com/ByauSu4wQ8</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527735703970402305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/turning-good-testers-into-great-ones/" target="_blank">Turning good testers into great ones</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/VeraLittleTree" target="_blank">Vera Baum</a>. Originally, I had chosen the other session during this slot as I already heard an earlier version of this talk. Yet just when we were about to start, what felt like the end of the world broke lose - a huge thunderstorm threw masses of rain and lightening on us, so everyone had to seek cover at the indoor talk location.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Amazing weather at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a><br /><br />aaaaaaaand it's gone 😅 <a href="https://t.co/bqoe3PTZYV">pic.twitter.com/bqoe3PTZYV</a></p>— Wicked Witch of the Test (@witchofthetest) <a href="https://twitter.com/witchofthetest/status/1527305576996216833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Have a conference at a beach they said. It will be fun they said. What can go wrong they said.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/agileTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#agileTD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <br /><br />I'm kidding though. Everybody is safe and dry in the inside lecture hall. The team's amazing at handling the situation. ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/Gur8zQDqhp">pic.twitter.com/Gur8zQDqhp</a></p>— Sophie (@MlleSophiePofie) <a href="https://twitter.com/MlleSophiePofie/status/1527283020146810880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
In the end, we all benefited as we therefore all could listen to both sessions! First of all, kudos to Vera for having her talk interrupted by a thunderstorm, having to switch places and having to start all over again! It was a nice talk on an important topic: how we can all become better at what we do, be it in everyday life activities or in testing.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Turning good testers into great ones" by <a href="https://twitter.com/VeraLittleTree?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VeraLittleTree</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/xd9dA5B41Q">pic.twitter.com/xd9dA5B41Q</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527735716624711681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>"<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/context-driven-everything/" target="_blank">Context Driven Everything</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/PvanEnkhuijzen" target="_blank">Patrick van Enkhuijzen</a>. Also here, kudos to Patrick for having his talk interrupted and postponed by the thunderstorm! I totally agree with the main message that context is crucial in everything we do and we need to understand the underlying needs, what problem are we actually trying to solve.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Context Driven Everything" by <a href="https://twitter.com/PvanEnkhuijzen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PvanEnkhuijzen</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/XM3DH47pWw">pic.twitter.com/XM3DH47pWw</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527735728763195392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li><li>Keynote "<a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/2022/session/creating-a-culture-of-learning/" target="_blank">Creating a Culture of Learning</a>" by <a href="https://twitter.com/huibschoots" target="_blank">Huib Schoots</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/VinWijNL" target="_blank">Vincent Wijnen</a>. Due to the weather situation, this session was preponed right after the other talks, all originally scheduled bonus sessions couldn't have taken place anyway under these circumstances. First of all, lots of respect delivering this keynote during a thunderstorm and keeping your calm! Great stage presence throughout. I really liked the messages of the keynote, the emphasis on learning and how we can build learning into an organization. Overall: perfect closing keynote!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Good talk in bad weather... <a href="https://t.co/q0LCvLxbab">pic.twitter.com/q0LCvLxbab</a></p>— Andreas Schliep 🇺🇦 (@andreasschliep) <a href="https://twitter.com/andreasschliep/status/1527310486496108549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"don't punish your teams if the numbers are unexpected - they are a conversation starter, not a solidified piece of KPI to beat them over the head with" - <a href="https://twitter.com/VinWijNL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VinWijNL</a></p>— Tom Young (@ThomasTheYoung) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThomasTheYoung/status/1527314676484571136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">First time ever it rained into the keynote room. Also blankets were handed out to people who were cold… ⛈😱☔️ <a href="https://t.co/GfwLecRkg7">https://t.co/GfwLecRkg7</a></p>— Huib Schoots (@huibschoots) <a href="https://twitter.com/huibschoots/status/1527320100772007939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Creating a Culture of Learning" by <a href="https://twitter.com/huibschoots?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@huibschoots</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/VinWijNL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VinWijNL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sketchnote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sketchnote</a> <a href="https://t.co/kSKmO8t3ny">pic.twitter.com/kSKmO8t3ny</a></p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527735742021128194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</li></ul>The official program being over, I was super happy to see how many of the first time conference joiners stayed until late to socialize, network, connect, build relationships, learn through informal conversations, enjoy themselves, have a great time with this lovely community. The evening became night and no one wanted to let go - until we had to say our goodbyes. Lucky us, there are more Agile Testing Days events coming up and I'm personally very grateful I can see a bunch of these people again in roughly two weeks at <a href="https://agiletestingdays.us/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days USA</a>, or latest in November for the regular <a href="https://agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">Agile Testing Days</a> in Potsdam.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Friday</h2><div>On my way home, my heart and soul was full to the rim. I love these kinds of communities who do that. It seems this was yet another event that was dearly needed by lots of people due to all kinds of reasons, and I noticed I was one of these people as well. This is one of the places where I can just be me (even outdoors).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> is over. It was wonderful to see people again I appreciate so much, get to know amazing first time joiners, and all learn a lot together in sessions just as in so many deep & insightful conversations. Thank you everyone who made this possible! My heart is full. ❤</p>— Lisi Hocke (@lisihocke) <a href="https://twitter.com/lisihocke/status/1527597463477096451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div><div>All my thanks go out to the organizers of this wonderful event, all the heart and care they poured into it including making people feel safe, all the struggles they went through to make it happen, all the magic that came out of it.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you'd also like to experience this magic, we already learned that there will be an <a href="https://openair.agiletestingdays.com/" target="_blank">AgileTD Open Air</a> 2023! Look out for the call for papers coming up. Why not do it like some of the people who joined this time who consider becoming a speaker and submit a proposal?</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Today, I went for a swim in the lake and midway I saw a unicorn at a distance. I decided to swim to it without knowing what I would find. I was brought on board, there was beer and then I had to paddle.<br /><br />This is a true story and it only makes sense at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> <a href="https://t.co/0FKnlyRpYw">pic.twitter.com/0FKnlyRpYw</a></p>— João Proença (@jrosaproenca) <a href="https://twitter.com/jrosaproenca/status/1526972023548813313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en" width="300"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">My first <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AgileTDOpenAir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AgileTDOpenAir</a> was a very positive experience! I wish I could draw everyone I met, but I'm only mortal, so here are a subset of my impressions 🌻<br /><br />Thankyou everyone <a href="https://twitter.com/AgileTD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AgileTD</a> for the good vibes!✌️😊🌸 <a href="https://t.co/xpW22LJsVx">pic.twitter.com/xpW22LJsVx</a></p>— 🌱Constance Hermit🌱 (@constancehermit) <a href="https://twitter.com/constancehermit/status/1527401774629388288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Lisi Hockehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09556173741018930715noreply@blogger.com0