Shhh - the sound of learning ...

I'm going to attempt to be very quiet this month, but I'm going to tell you why ...

Writing this blog is a great experience, and it really helps me in my work.  However as part of an experiment, I'm aiming this month to divert my energies from writing to reading.

Why?  Well just as a way of exposing myself to other testers ideas.

I'd been thinking about this anyway - but then was inspired by Lisa Crispin's article on Professional Growth in the December edition of Teatime With Testers (well there's also an article there by yours truly).

In it she talks of the importance to find time each week for some professional growth.  This is kind of true.  Most of what I've learned is self-taught through home study.

These days though I don't have the time to work through text books like I used to.  I might tackle an area or a chapter.

I find Twitter really useful, and keep a professional Twitter account.  I have a 25 minute commute to work via train, and use it to follow several testers around the world.  I find better than test books is reading blog articles.  They expose you to a small area, with a couple of ideas, and a little bit of opinion. But it's easily digestible.  And they often provoke ideas or reactions.

I'm also a big believer that the best way to learn about testing is to not just learn about testing.  Most of this blog is about looking at things like sport or films or Star Wars (not that Star Wars isn't a film) and looking for the parallels and the parables which we can bring back to our professional life and be better at our job.  Learn but in a fun way that it doesn't feel like learning.

Okay - so here are some great places to start.  There are a few online testers magazines out there, which contain an absolute rogue's gallery (but in a good way) of articles,

Testing Planet (which I sometimes edit articles for, but ironically never been published in) ...
http://www.thetestingplanet.com/

Tea Time With Testers
http://www.teatimewithtesters.com/

Testing Circus (which I've had the Agile Haka published in)
http://testingcircus.com/default.aspx




I'll try and return at some point and list some of the better articles I've experienced ...