Aircrews learn a set of skills involving a structured way of communicating that breaks down barriers and forces an honest evaluation of the issues. They also automate what they can but still practice their craft over and over again, including what to do during failures. DevOps teams can learn a lot from aircrews.

With a week full of sessions, tutorials, training classes, and events, the STARWEST software testing conference had plenty of takeaways useful for your professional and personal life. Here are four lessons distilled from the conference’s keynote presentations on testing, communication, and directing your career.

Being a mentor is a big responsibility. It becomes a greater one when the person you're mentoring is set to become a mentor to someone else. What advice would you impart to your mentee? What do you wish you'd thought of when you were starting out as a mentor? Payson Hall distilled his experience into five principles.