One day when I was having a discussion with another tester I noticed that he is trying to test something stubbornly in a quite specific way(using log filtering if that matters) and I asked him why is he trying to use that and doesn`t consider something else. He told me that Bach recommended it. It was a person who has been to Bach class and is very familiar with his teachings and because of that it was very surprising. The whole point of Bach teachings is that you should test something in a way that is most suitable for it and not be constricted by certain ideas and customs.
So I got a threory. Maybe Bach has become so famous that the fame is becoming an obstacle which makes hard to take a message to people in a way that he has meant it. Previously Bach was just another colleague with great ideas and it was easy to be critical to his words. Fame is a wonderful tool - if you have specific points that you want to spread, but Bach is trying to help people to think for themselves and show that professional testing is about creativity. One specific sample about the Bach religion is about the constant ISTQB battering he does that has resulted to many people having a stand that ISQTB is pointless. In reality I have yet not seen any teachings that dont have any good points in them. Important thing is to be open-minded and tolerant to other ideas. Best thing to do is to read, listen and think through all the different ideas you can find. But you should analyze them critically, think through every thought and take out the ideas that you think are worth taking and combine them with other ideas you get and by that you can even create new ideas of your own.
I think people in risk of becoming "followers" rather than independent testers are unexperienced or uncertain testers. By uncertain I mean people who don't believe that they are good testers even if they have great experience. People like that are afraid that their ideas are not good enough and rather walk the path that others have set. They are not bad testers, they have great potential because the fear comes from the need to be good and useful. These people just need guidance and reassurance. Ofcourse there are just people who don't want to be good and just get through, those people usually just have chosen wrong career, but are afraid to change their lives. Unexperienced testers have usually many fears, for example not sure if they have chosen right career, fear of speaking their mind because they feel insecure and generally fear of being wrong. So as you might see, fear is attribute in many cases. You might think "so let's lose the fear", firstly I don't think that is possible and secondly without it we can't be great. Being a good tester means that you constantly have the need to develop your mind and techniques. Fear of letting down our team, employers etc keep us improving ourselves (ofcourse there are also other attributes that drive us, like ambition, ego etc). The trick is to let the fear guide you but not control you. It means that for example when you feel fear of presenting your product to client than maybe it is trying to tell you that you should be more familiar with some functions and you should look into that. Not letting it control you means that you think the problem through and if you don`t see any logical reason for the fear anymore than you let it go. The letting go part needs the most practice.
Best advice that has worked for me is a quote from Steve Jobs: "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way that I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked, there is no reason not to follow your heart." Dont waste the time you are given living someone elses life, create and let others see YOU with all your ideas and thoughts. Being wrong only helps us be right the next time.
I really hope Bach teachings escape becoming a religion and can be science that helps people develop a mind of an effective professional tester.
Followers - testers who follow specific techinques, traditions and directions without adding their own ideas into them.
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