India OMG
I’m wrapping up 91 days on the road. I’ve taught around Europe, become a mostly-vegetarian, lost 23 pounds, and now I’m doing my last day in India.
India. OMG. I have never had such a thunderous reception. I was here nine years ago, taught two classes, and learned that Indians can be fantastic testers– if only they would wake themselves up to do it. Since then, hundreds of them have begun to do that.
Last time I visited Mindtree, I taught my class to a skeptical audience with good potential, then I went home. This time I met with the CEO and COO, spoke to a forum of 250 testers, did a three-camera interview, dined with their managers while monkeys (real, literal monkeys, not bad testers) screeched and cavorted nearby.
I visited Moolya, the hottest new test lab anywhere, and brought their work to a halt while they presented their projects for my review. I spent most of a week coaching their head of training, Parimala, about whom I have blogged before.
I taught at Intel, which was more receptive than I expected they would be.
I’m wrapping up at Barclays, in Pune, which is veritably vibrating with creative intelligence, ready to break free. Keith Klain and his head of training Leah Stockley are responsible for making that happen.
India may be the new garden of the skilled testing revolution. Behold the harvest.
I’ll write a more detailed report for Tea Time with Testers. Stay tuned.
December 13th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
So nice! Looking forward to the detailed post.
December 14th, 2012 at 11:55 pm
hi James,
I was one of the attendees to your RST class at Bangalore and then at Test-ed.in.
I have been waiting for your experience report on your journey to India. Hope your article will soon be available on Tea Time with Testers or on this website. One observation though, the latest article on Tea time… does not display your name as one of the authors for next series.
Thanks,
Rahul Gupta
(I am the one who followed you during dice puzzle to collect more test data & ideas)
December 16th, 2012 at 11:19 pm
Great to hear it. The best time to plant a tree was nine years ago, and it sounds as if you did that.
December 18th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Gr8 to hear that u were in India … But sad that i missed ur sessions .. Hope to be part of it next time
December 21st, 2012 at 3:01 am
The first good thing about indian testers I’ve read. James are you being honest?
[James' Reply: Yes.]
December 24th, 2012 at 4:12 am
Thanks James, it means a lot
Eagerly waiting for the detailed report.
January 8th, 2013 at 2:13 am
Many thanks for the encouraging words said about Testing community here. I regret heavily not being able to meet you. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your article in Tea Time with Testers. Hope to meet you on your next visit.
January 31st, 2013 at 1:57 am
Dedicated and skilled testers from India who are working with in-house projects are just as good as dedicated and skilled testers from other parts of world who are working in their respective projects. Why wouldn’t they be?
It’s when managers think that testing can be outsourced to other parts of the world and expect same quality the problems start to arise. Cultural differences, communication problems, lack of context understanding to name a few. The point is that these problems would be the same if Indian managers decided to outsource testing to the US, for example. Even though the other way around is more common today due to economic factors.
[James' Reply: I agree. I made the same point in part 1 of my trip report article. You can find it in the December issue of Tea Time With Testers.]