Quality of software or any product that we sell and provide a customer seems to be talked about but not effectively addressed in most software processes. In the process of reducing the size of my technical library I have been looking at some of my “old” books. It is interesting to see how many of these books are referenced in new books that are published.

The book “Improving Software Quality: An Insider’s Guide to TQM” by Lowell Arthur (1993)  is one I was just perusing. In the preface he has a section on eliminating the testing group. Wow, this is a book on Total Quality Management and they made a bold statement such as this. Tell me how many companies have eliminated their testing groups to improve quality?

Here are some other quotes from the preface:

Create a constancy of purpose toward quality and continuous improvement

This is a underlying principle in Agile development. The whole team is involved in process improvement through constant inspection.

Institute leadership instead of management by numbers

That is the goal of self-organizing teams. Leadership is distributed among the team members in that they agree to common goals for quality and hold each other accountable. Just having a list of defects and managing this list is not a sign of a quality organization.

Drive out fear so that everyone may work effectively.

Time and time again I hear the complaint that a person is evaluated by the number of defects that are found in their code. This creates an environment where people want to cover up any problems they discover. I just recently had to defend the number of defects that were recorded against our team during a clean up sprint (these were actually new requirements). I want any defect to be recorded so we do not have them reach the customer. Removing the fear of recording defects goes a long way to creating an quality product.

Break down barriers between departments and work groups

Simply stated, have cross function teams. If everyone is on the same team you have no barriers.

Eliminate slogans, work quotas and management by numbers. Substitute leadership.

What would our managers do? I guess I am being a little sarcastic. But so many activities our managers do do not enhance quality.

Remove barriers that rob workers (management, professional and craft) of pride of workmanship.

Nothing encourages a team more then a job well done that exceeds customer expectations. We want to be proud of our work.

Nothing new is under sun as wise King Solomon said. Agile development provided solutions that provide for a quality product.