How Do You Inculcate the Habit of Reading in Testers?
The process of reading is often thought of as a means of language acquisition, communication, and sharing information and ideas. Reading skills for software testers are vital because the greater the awareness of how we read, the more it helps in the process of questioning and evaluation associated with software testing.
Not only for testing but also for other disciplines in software engineering, the reading skills—especially the analytical reading skills—play a major part in enhancing the understanding of written requirements.
One of the great ironies with reading is that it is not given as much importance as a skill in our adult lives as it is in the early phases of our lives. But given the fact that we live in an era that is seeing a massive information explosion, it is almost a no-brainer that reading as a skill deserves special attention to stay relevant in this fast-changing world.
Building a skill in reading can be a challenging proposition for some because reading as an activity often happens in a vacuum. Reading is a personal activity with just the reader and the book as the active players. Seeking feedback on your reading skills thus often becomes a challenge.
Seth Godin questions in his book Poke the Box, “When was the last time you did something for the first time?”
Godin further makes a case for questioning the status-quo when he says: “Today not starting is far, far worse, than being wrong. If you start, you’ve got a shot at evolving and adjusting to turn your wrong into a right. But if you don’t start, you never get a chance.”
These illustrations serve well in helping one inculcate the habit of reading by first committing to make a definitive start.
A study quoted in Harvard Business Review reiterates the basic fundamental that acquiring a new skill or honing an existing skill is better done by starting small. Prakash Iyer further simplifies the notion of starting small: “If you read for just half an hour everyday, you could finish a 250-page book in just two weeks' time. That's twenty-six books in a year. A hundred books in the next four years.”
Thus, by starting small and investing thirty minutes a day every day, you would set yourself up for a journey that will certainly make a positive change to the quality of your mind. Further, apart from initiating and starting small, one thing that helps inculcate the habit of reading is staying disciplined, committed, and being persistent in working toward your reading goals.
To quote George R.R. Martin, "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." Give yourself a chance to live beyond the realms of your mind. Pick up that book that’s been craving your attention.
