…..(oh, we love the highlight).

I’ve been thinking a lot about reporting and data.

I am drawn to collect and retain all the data that is humanly possible, almost as a gut reaction. But, on reflection, is all the data really what I need? What my company needs?

The two ends of the spectrum; recording nothing – expecting everyone to just trust that I’ve tested the product and it’s ready to go, or documenting so much that I barely test anything, are unacceptable in my book.

A quick mindmap later, and I found that there are a lot of things I could report.

I will therefore aim to take a leaf from Lex Sisney, who added to Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle – whose original TED talk is available here.

Sinek purports that great organizations seem to create their foundation by first addressing Why they exist, then How they go about their mission, and then finally, What they do.

However, the truth is that great organizations build their core ideology by first defining and reinforcing Who they serve and the customer problem or need that they solve in the marketplace. Then they address and reinforce Why they exist, then How they go about their mission, and finally What they do.

Ref: http://organizationalphysics.com/2013/04/01/whats-wrong-with-the-golden-circle/

Starting from the centre, I can tailor my reporting based on who the audience is first and then work my way out.

It is highly likely that I will reference this way of thinking again in the future.

An example of this in our everyday lives as an audience, or consumer (the Who or consumer), can be seen in newspaper headlines, or even newsletters, such as the Ministry of Testing, Testing Feeds.

The data is there, if we want it, but for the highlights we can browse. If something draws our attention we can delve in deeper. Flipboard, Buzzfeed, Twitter, click bait et al operate in this modus operandi.

So the take away from this for me, is to think about what reporting data there is to collate, from whom and for whom, then how to present it.

I don’t want a paperwork overhead, but I want to know what has been tested, I want for there to be transparency in the testing work that is carried out in my workplace, and for this process to continually improve and be beneficial.

Blog post title lyrics from: Lost and found – by Train.

Find all the songs from my blog posts at this Spotify playlist.