Why Quality Coaching is Bad for your Business
summary
Argues that quality coaching reduces specialist tester roles—dozens made redundant across Australia—illustrates with a Selenium RC era story about a 36‑person effort that got hollowed out, shows one coach stretched across 4–6 teams causes checkbox thinking, lost artifacts and no consistent coverage, and warns automation first leads to thin, easily‑gamed suites and architecture tweaks instead of true quality. Presents measured numbers (36 people, multiple teams), concrete tools (Selenium RC), and business outcomes: lower visibility, hidden risk, and cheaper delivery that can break warranties.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:12Quality coaching pitfalls
- 5:08Quality engineering vs coaching
- 8:01Hidden costs of shifting left
- 12:14Burnout in shared coaches
- 16:28Who becomes a coach
- 19:19Personality mismatches
- 23:11Loss of team context
- 25:40Why we create coaches
- 27:51Reclaiming tester relevance
- 30:39Q&A
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