Deliberate Practice Webinar

In 1968 when the Vietnam war was in full swing, the U.S. Navy was losing approximately 1 fighter plane for every enemy fighter they took down. An unacceptable rate of attrition, by anyone’s standards. The top brass knew something needed to be done… But what?

Their solution: The Top Gun training academy. Formally known as the U.S. Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program, but I prefer Top Gun — and who doesn’t like a bit of Maverick and Iceman?

“That was some of the best flying I’ve seen to date — right up to the part where you got killed.” – Jester

By all accounts, the Top Gun academy was pretty successful. By 1973 the pilot kill ratio had gone from 1:1 to 1:12 in the US favour. To put it another way, each U.S. pilot downed around 12-13 enemy planes for each plane they lost. Over the course of time, they improved the skills of fighter pilots still further, to the point where during the first Gulf War, U.S. pilots shot down thirty-three enemy planes while only losing one of their own in the process.

How did they make such dramatic improvements? And why am I talking about fighter pilots on a testing blog anyway?

Get TestRail FREE for 30 days!

TRY TESTRAIL TODAY

Deliberate Practice

It’s generally accepted that the reason for the success of the Top Gun flight school is a function of a few key learning principles, that in theory can be applied anywhere. To get better at something, you need to practice. And you need to practice in a deliberate, methodological fashion so that you’re stretching yourself beyond your existing capabilities, obtaining feedback on your performance, reflecting and then implementing improvements on subsequent attempts at whatever it is you’re trying to learn. According to Anders Ericsson, the Top Gun academy gave “student pilots a chance to try different things in different situation, get feedback on their performance, and then apply what they had learned.” (Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise).

In other words, they practiced deliberately. And we can apply the same thinking to get better at software testing. Though, it’s a little harder. We don’t have a Top Gun academy. And finding somewhere to practice your testing skills without upsetting someone or breaking the law can be tricky. But there are some strategies and tools you can implement. There are some places where you can practice your testing skills safely, and there are some folk who can help you get feedback.

Deliberate Practice Webinar, 13th Feb

If you want to know more about them, join Matt Heusser and I for the Getting Started with Deliberate Practice in Software Testing webinar next week, on the 13th February at 16.30-17.30pm GMT.

Seeya there!

Simon.

Post by Simon Knight, Gurock Product and Community Manager. Follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Test Automation – Anywhere, Anytime

Try Ranorex for free

In This Article:

Sign up for our newsletter

Share this article

Other Blogs

Software Quality

Test Planning: A Comprehensive Guide for Success

A comprehensive test plan is the cornerstone of successful software testing, serving as a strategic document guiding the testing team throughout the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). A test plan document is a record of the test planning process that d...

Business, Software Quality

Managing Distributed QA Teams

In today’s landscape of work, organizations everywhere are not just accepting remote and hybrid teams—they’re fully embracing them. Forbes predicts that by 2025, around 33 million U.S. workers will be doing some form of remote work. So what do...

Agile, Software Quality

QA Best Practices to Improve Software Testing

Software testing is crucial for ensuring high-quality software releases. However, one often overlooked aspect is the quality of the Quality Assurance (QA) process within your team. A well-streamlined QA process not only identifies more bugs but also aids in...