As I see it, there are (at least) 2 different types of belief that people have about their job. These beliefs directly affect how successful you will be as a tester, if not consciously, then certainly subconsciously.

  • Belief in Product – The core of this belief is rooted in the actual product or service you are testing. If you believe in its worth and value then you will want it to be the best it can be to achieve its full potential. This doesn’t mean that you must believe in a product to do a good job. What really drives that is your level of professional commitment and personal ethics.
  • Belief in Leadership – This is abstracted up a couple levels from the product itself. Do you belief in the leader (or general leadership) of the organization. We might all get scurvy, but the captain hasn’t let us down yet. This type of belief manifests itself when people join companies based on the founder(s) or leadership team.

To different people, the amount of one outweighing the other differs wildly. Do you have equity? Are you a contractor? Have you been burned by failed leadership? Are you battling burn-out?

For me, I’ve found that leadership trumps product consistently. But I know at least one person who believes the opposite. It is an interesting exercise though, to figure out why you are where you are; the product or the people steering it.