Concurrent testing is the concept that as software is being developed, it is also being tested. Concurrent testing can be done in several ways; one of the most common is to perform testing at the system level. As a development team completes coding requirements for an application or system, this required code becomes testable, while other team members can execute test cases against the completed code.

Approaching performance testing with a rigid plan and narrow specialization often leads to testers' missing performance problems or to prolonged performance troubleshooting. By making the process more agile, the efficiency of performance testing increases significantly—and that extra effort usually pays off multi-fold, even before the end of performance testing.

Teams at a tipping point

Is there a transformational moment within a team when an individual shifts from behaviors that support only individual achievement to those that support team achievement? What observations can we make as leaders about the specific behaviors that help individuals turn towards their team and lean on behaviors that support the team? How can we nudge teams forward until these behaviors gain their own momentum? My experience in setting up agile teams to tackle complex, systemic problems has brought me to focus on the set of behaviors that are both markers and catalysts of emotional maturity. Emotional maturity matters for agile teams because it enables business value. Emotionally mature teams are resilient and innovative in the face of the setbacks and barriers that come along with complex problems.

Testers who point out project risks are often perceived as "negative" thinkers. Software test consultant Fiona Charles (an optimist by nature and a pessimist by trade) writes about how a culture of unthinking optimism pervades our organizations and our society, and describes some of its detrimental effects on software projects.