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This blog series summarizes the TestExpo VIP event that took place in a movie theatre in Stockholm on October 10th, as well as the reflections and discussions that resulted from the event. The event was divided into four main sections – Behind the scenes, Close Up, Special Effects and Blockbuster, all inspired by the film culture of the venue:
In this part of the event, we are first introduced to Christian Edström, who leads the development platforms unit at Swedbank. Together with Markus Backman, he has worked on modernizing not only the technical ecosystem of development tools but also weaving this into a narrative inspired by – space.
Thus, this development platform, based on a microservice architecture, is named Andromeda, and the narrative revolves around each development team having their own ecosystem to explore and take care of. This exemplifies how we can naturally establish a sense of coherence among development teams and a narrative that they are exploring the unknown together.
To complement this, Christian shares that they use different types of missions that development teams can complete to earn experience points – for example, if they dare to deploy on the 25th of the month, when payroll is processed, they successfully face a challenge and earn an award.
Christian and Markus use a lot of automated and AI-based tools to build this story, where data is pulled from the development platform to further express the narrative and automatically produce films and other materials that provoke thought.
The value of creating a story around the new development platform is immeasurable in financial terms, as the main incentive is to inspire with a feeling rooted in courage and adventure among development teams. This serves both to appeal to new potential employees and to transform existing ones.
To achieve this, they use AI-created content to tell a story, incorporating events in the system landscape into the space-based narrative so that employees are not only talking about data and logic but also encountering it through aesthetic communication that speaks directly to our senses.
See the full video about the Andromeda platform via the YouTube link below.
One example Christian mentions is the LEGO rocket that “lights up” in the office space every time a team deploys something new in production. Initially, this rocket drew attention, as it was not considered approved office-related equipment. Instead of scrapping the rocket idea, they decided it was worth going through the process of getting it approved.
It may seem like an insignificant detail, but the attitude and engagement that Christian showcase through this story is an essential trait in employees working in modern, complex development organizations. Sometimes we have to decide to do things, even when it feels difficult, or when we face resistance. It might even be that we cannot initially see how to measure the positive outcome of it, but we still do it because “it feels right.”
Ola Berg highlights in the conversation the importance of management meeting and trying to understand why certain things feel important to employees, on a deeper level. This is because these initiatives are constantly being halted by a “wall of bureaucracy.” He also shares a story about a white goods manufacturer whose CEO decided to smash several of the company’s product models in front of employees with a baseball bat to express his frustration with the declining product quality. Fortunately, Christian tells us that Swedbank’s CEO hasn’t started swinging at the rocket, but instead understood and was impressed by its engineering craftsmanship.
Fredrik mentions the fear that this could result in an organization of employees who just do what they want, a group of artists creating chaos. Ola Berg believes that this fear is unfounded, as we should rely on our fundamental education to create a secure platform. A foundation that creates clear frameworks and secure individuals and groups that enable us to experiment and explore complex problems we face later. But this also highlights the importance of having a strong vision and goal, a direction and overarching purpose for our work so we can stay alert and still find meaning amidst the chaos we might be exposed to.
The conversation also touches on the importance of being aware that we cannot expect to measure and claim a win in everything we do on a small scale. Innovating, experimenting, and trying new things come at a cost, but waiting for the “right” solution to appear may cost just as much, and it might never reveal itself out of thin air. In a way, this lands in the central role of courage, both from the employee side who needs to channel their courage through trying new things and reflecting on this, and also from leadership to show deep trust in employees that they want to do the right thing and generate value in the end.
See the full BLOCKBUSTER section of the event here (youtube.com)
EPILOGUE
This event led to several insights, thanks to the guests who generously shared their diverse stories and perspectives, before, during, and after the event. I would like to acknowledge those who shared their wisdom so openly:
- Ann-Sofie Forsmark, Leadership Consultant at OxyGroup.se
- Cecilie Östby – Author and Script Developer at skrivpedagogen.se
- Ola Berg – Organizational Development and Graphic Facilitator
- Terese Östberg – Test Lead at trafikverket.se
- Karl Fridlycke – Global Leader in Data & AI at Sogeti.se
- Karl Kardemark – AI & Data Expert at Sogeti.se
- Jesper Thuresson – Enterprise Sales Director at Tricentis.com
- Christian Edström – Head of Development Platforms Unit at Swedbank.se
This event might have been perceived by listeners as chatty and unprepared, but for me (Fredrik Scheja), the intention was never to present perfect truths or a polished surface that tells visitors exactly how things are and how they can take something back to implement in their organization – because those truths and recipes don’t exist today. We are currently exploring new worlds together, and there is no final answer.
The system development industry is in the middle of a paradigm shift, and attempting to detail how the audience should think and perceive their individual surroundings based on their unique context would have been nothing but deceptive.
I see what we all delivered together as a unit, as an ensemble, as more of a performance piece, much like a work of performance art with the purpose of sparking thoughts and reflections through that brilliant expression I will carry with me from Cecilie; a shining example of ‘human imperfection’.
How does testing fit into this picture? In development organizations driven by both mind and heart, where decisions are made based on both logic and emotion, the testing profession should reflect this by being able to convey and fulfill the unique decision-making needs of individuals in the organization, so they feel confident in the decisions made.
After this event, Terese, mentioned in the article, shared a beautiful story where she and a developer in her team realized they had a disagreement about a production deployment of a change, regarding whether the level of testing was sufficient to build the trust needed in the system’s ability to generate value.
Terese explained that she had to think for seven days before she had thought it through and raised the conversation with the developer, explaining why she had concluded that the confidence level wasn’t sufficient. This led to a deeper conversation, which in turn allowed everyone to understand each other’s perspective and the system from a deeper view – AND at the same time, find common ground on why the tests felt meaningful.
Not because it’s in a test strategy or specification, but because we want to feel collective trust in the system’s ability to generate value. “Agile” doesn’t mean “get the system into production faster” but more “trust the team’s collective ability to make mature decisions on their own,” which may take longer or shorter, depending on the collective ability to make mature decisions and talk about essential issues directly related to the system’s and change’s specific complexity level.
We also need to learn to understand how much of our decisions are made – not only by one individual but by a collective force, and how do we navigate this as a testing profession? How do we meet the collective’s needs for reliable information that supports both logical and emotional decisions? How can we, with the help of machines, get better at generating both logical and emotional artifacts that help us move forward in our creative processes? Can AI act as an accelerator for logical decisions? This seems relatively clear today, but can it also be used to support the emotional side of decision-making?
So – final question, does any connection between system development and (engineering) art exist? Are they reconcilable in a sustainable balance that gives us a sense of coherence? Can a combination of logic and feeling in harmony offer the manageability, comprehensibility, and meaning we need to feel good in our professional task? I believe so. Just read and reflect on these quotes below from well-known artists and try to replace the word ‘art’ with ‘development’ – just see what happens. Feel free to share your thoughts openly in the comments or just let me hear your thoughts in a mail. Let the conversation continue.
- “Every child is an artist; the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.” – Pablo Picasso
- “If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh
- “Creativity requires courage.” – Henri Matisse
- “Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, if they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” – Andy Warhol
- “We make no mistakes, just happy little accidents.” – Bob Ross
- “Every artist was first an amateur.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “There is nothing more artistic than loving people.” – Vincent van Gogh
- “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.” – Georgia O’Keeffe
- “I believe that the perfection of form and beauty is in the sum of all people.” – Albrecht Dürer
- “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas
- “A work of art that is not based on feeling is not art at all.” – Paul Cézanne
- “Life is art. Art is life.” – Yoko Ono
