Good Tester

Wow.. U are such a Good Tester! I hear this whenever the number of bugs increase or a critical bug is found. Of course the comment comes from test lead or test manager or may be even from the development team. Can one be termed as a Good Tester based on the number of bugs or criticality of the bug?
I guess NO.

"How to be a Good Tester" - google search gives approximately 195000 results !! Can one become a Good Tester by reading and following all the tips and advices given in the websites.
I guess NO.

Good Tester need not be associated only with finding bugs. There can be "Good Tester" tag associated when a new testing process/technique is followed, when a good test case is authored, when a good review is conducted and so on ......

I feel one has to rate himself/herself. Maybe I feel happy and excited about finding a bug, which may not fetch me a Good Tester tag. The bug in my opinion has added a lot of value to the project. A Good Tester is a feeling which I experience. I do not believe it as a tag or honour presented by someone.


I had asked some of my colleagues to define "Good Tester"
Some of the common replies were :-
A tester who thinks like an end user
A tester who finds valid defects which makes business impact
A tester who thinks out of the box
A tester who breaks the code.

Of course all are right in their own way :-)


Everything happens for good !!
ranjinisri