Center of the Universe Syndrome

Great use of metaphor from a 'testing' article.

There was a time when it was commonly believed that the earth was the center of the universe. It was a reasonable belief that made perfect sense from our perspective. It's not like at the time we could look through a giant telescope, or launch a deep space probe to get a different point of view. I actually think that this "Center of the Universe Syndrome" is natural. Given no reason to do otherwise, why wouldn't a person look at something from his own perspective?

Unfortunately, this Syndrome is not particularly helpful to a tester who is genuinely concerned with software quality. To really have a positive impact on quality, I think testers would do well to consider the following before deciding that the team or company doesn't care about quality, or doesn't take testing seriously:

• Someone, somewhere, is paying for this team to develop this software. In most cases that someone considers a profitable project to be of acceptable quality.

• Few developers would have jobs if not for that someone paying for them to develop software for the purposes of making a profit.

• Even fewer testers would have jobs if it weren't for those developers trying to build software for 'the someone' looking to earn a profit.

When all is said and done, in many organizations the test team is no more at the center of the universe than the Earth's moon. Think about it. In your team, does the test team (the moon) orbit the development team (the Earth), which is guided by the gravity of the business (the sun), which in turn is weaving a path through the universe of business, finance, and competitive pressures? If so, maybe it makes sense to think about the things you can influence -- such as testing methods, improved communication and test prioritization -- as opposed to things you probably can't -- like budget, business priorities, and contractual obligations.

That is similar to how the Earth's moon influences tides, causes solar eclipses, and inspires awe and a spirit of exploration in the inhabitants of Earth, but it doesn't seem to feel as though it isn't taken seriously because it can't change the direction that the Earth orbits the sun.

Article by Scott Barber at SearchSoftwareQuality.com


Aside ...

Are you the center of your universe?
Is it even your universe?