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Leading Quality: How Great Leaders Deliver High Quality Software and Accelerate Growth
What is the true meaning of quality? How can you influence positive attitudes towards quality within the workplace?
Leading Quality teaches you how to influence and align your company's definition of quality, so that you can deliver the best possible experience to your clients. You will learn the techniques successful leaders use to make their strategic decisions and you will be given the tools to ensure that your team is in alignment to achieving common goals. Leading Quality is the first book that teaches why quality is important and how to incorporate it within the workspace.
Praise for Leading Quality:
"A quality mindset remains key to differentiating your product and your company. Leading Quality offers key lessons to develop this mindset."
- Michael Lopp, author of Managing Humans and VP of Product Engineering at Slack
"Leading Quality communicates just how important a focus on quality is within your company and is one of the few titles that actually teaches how to lead quality in a clear yet captivating manner."
- Shesh Patel, Engineering Manager at The New York Times
Leading Quality teaches you how to influence and align your company's definition of quality, so that you can deliver the best possible experience to your clients. You will learn the techniques successful leaders use to make their strategic decisions and you will be given the tools to ensure that your team is in alignment to achieving common goals. Leading Quality is the first book that teaches why quality is important and how to incorporate it within the workspace.
Praise for Leading Quality:
"A quality mindset remains key to differentiating your product and your company. Leading Quality offers key lessons to develop this mindset."
- Michael Lopp, author of Managing Humans and VP of Product Engineering at Slack
"Leading Quality communicates just how important a focus on quality is within your company and is one of the few titles that actually teaches how to lead quality in a clear yet captivating manner."
- Shesh Patel, Engineering Manager at The New York Times
154 pages, Paperback
Published July 30, 2019
98 people are currently reading
313 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
May 16, 2023
I'm gonna start by saying I've never enjoyed the ones I call "tech books", as in I'm a fiction reader. My thing is fiction.
BUT I do read books related to my work and hobbies and sometimes, rarely though, I find real gems. Most of the time not, I just pray for the pages to somehow shrink.
Now that you understand the context, I can honestly say this ain't a bad book. This is actually a good one. No doubt it's helpful and interesting for software/QA professionals, but for me, as a person having worked on support roles for the tech industry for the past 7 years, it's so comprehensive yet so easily understandable!
Having witnessed the eternal dev-QA battle multiple times, I can confirm that this book has everything you need in order to understand the importance of quality in your company, the underlying processes and also how you should approach it to move it to the center of your product development. Cause it does belong there.
I loved that it's not a bs-theory delivering book, but rather an insightful collection of real stories and examples in the industry. And I love that this book, as well as even the authors' company, was created exactly because they've reached the conclusion that QA is central by themselves, in their own hands-on practice.
The overall feeling is that this book is a compilation of best practices and ideas, without the ballast of the boring research underneath, but providing all the resources you need in order to lead quality in your team (long list of online resources, recommended reading list & references).
TL;DR: Good book, no bs, lots of practice, resources. Recommend.
BUT I do read books related to my work and hobbies and sometimes, rarely though, I find real gems. Most of the time not, I just pray for the pages to somehow shrink.
Now that you understand the context, I can honestly say this ain't a bad book. This is actually a good one. No doubt it's helpful and interesting for software/QA professionals, but for me, as a person having worked on support roles for the tech industry for the past 7 years, it's so comprehensive yet so easily understandable!
Having witnessed the eternal dev-QA battle multiple times, I can confirm that this book has everything you need in order to understand the importance of quality in your company, the underlying processes and also how you should approach it to move it to the center of your product development. Cause it does belong there.
I loved that it's not a bs-theory delivering book, but rather an insightful collection of real stories and examples in the industry. And I love that this book, as well as even the authors' company, was created exactly because they've reached the conclusion that QA is central by themselves, in their own hands-on practice.
The overall feeling is that this book is a compilation of best practices and ideas, without the ballast of the boring research underneath, but providing all the resources you need in order to lead quality in your team (long list of online resources, recommended reading list & references).
TL;DR: Good book, no bs, lots of practice, resources. Recommend.
September 29, 2022
Very well written, a good inspiring read with lots of good advice
Read it! Very well written, a good inspiring read with lots of good advice. Especially liked the last couple of chapters and the open ending.
Read it! Very well written, a good inspiring read with lots of good advice. Especially liked the last couple of chapters and the open ending.
August 24, 2020
Short but insightful read about quality. Non technical. Recommend not only for QA people, but everyone whose thinking about product quality. Talking about quality narrative, culture of quality, automation, improving feedback loops, testing infrastructure, aligning team with companies growth metric, quality strategy.
Many examples from well known companies. Links to other useful reads.
Some notes from book:
"Quality is subjective; it’s determined by whoever is using the product at the time. Quality is relative; it changes over time."
“Continuous deployment without quality is just delivering continuous bugs to your customers.”
"You can’t automate creativity."
“Vision and strategy are both important. But there is a priority to them. Vision always comes first. Always. If you have a clear vision, you will eventually attract the right strategy. If you don’t have a clear vision, no strategy will save you.”
"To set vision, you need to start with yourself, then make sure it’s aligned to your company and then your team/department. Assess your starting point of where you are now and where you want to be to understand what’s important for your strategy. Use our online resources if you need help. Remember, if you’re not confused while thinking through your strategy process, you’re probably not doing it right."
Many examples from well known companies. Links to other useful reads.
Some notes from book:
"Quality is subjective; it’s determined by whoever is using the product at the time. Quality is relative; it changes over time."
“Continuous deployment without quality is just delivering continuous bugs to your customers.”
"You can’t automate creativity."
“Vision and strategy are both important. But there is a priority to them. Vision always comes first. Always. If you have a clear vision, you will eventually attract the right strategy. If you don’t have a clear vision, no strategy will save you.”
"To set vision, you need to start with yourself, then make sure it’s aligned to your company and then your team/department. Assess your starting point of where you are now and where you want to be to understand what’s important for your strategy. Use our online resources if you need help. Remember, if you’re not confused while thinking through your strategy process, you’re probably not doing it right."
July 5, 2020
I bought this book thinking it was something it was not (don't remember what I was originally expecting) and ended up setting it down when I realized it was something else. Picked it up this weekend to see if I could reference it, ended up seeing what this book really is about -- a practical guide on how to successfully lead a quality team. I was unable to put it down this weekend and think it may be the most helpful leadership book I've read that is directly impactful to my current role over a quality team. Highly recommend this to anyone in charge of quality assurance engineers or software testers.
August 5, 2019
This book takes a swing at the traditional "Build fast, panic when it lights on fire" mentality in software development.
Every specific example of world-class software development companies underestimating the value return from investing in quality encouraged me to apply the same rationality to day to day life: striving to do things the right way pays off and it pays off well!
I expect to see more and more companies investing in quality over the next few years because as Ronald suggests, it's not only beneficial to the end-user, it also comes hand in hand with revenue growth.
Every specific example of world-class software development companies underestimating the value return from investing in quality encouraged me to apply the same rationality to day to day life: striving to do things the right way pays off and it pays off well!
I expect to see more and more companies investing in quality over the next few years because as Ronald suggests, it's not only beneficial to the end-user, it also comes hand in hand with revenue growth.
January 2, 2023
Recommend if you’re a Tester, but also useful for many roles in a tech company, start up etc. very up to date compared to a lot of books about testing and software development.
Lots of resources plus an audio version to download when you buy the physical book.
Really great to have tldr after each chapter and lots of great case study examples of success and failure in businesses you’d have heard of, like air bnb.
Lots of resources plus an audio version to download when you buy the physical book.
Really great to have tldr after each chapter and lots of great case study examples of success and failure in businesses you’d have heard of, like air bnb.
August 6, 2019
Just finished reading the book, i’ve been working in QA for 10+ years and i got to say, this is the best resource out there when talking about what QA means for big companies, small companies, indie devs, end users, project managers, developers and anyone involved in software development/publishing. This is a must read book, love it.
April 16, 2020
Short and clear book. Every qa professional should read it.
May 4, 2021
Quite a good book. Many were the highlights I put in this book. Gave me a lot to think on. It's a short book though, so I do have a lot of thinking through to do on my own to flesh out some of these ideas and to figure out how to put them into practice in my work environment. I feel like I'll be blogging about many of the ideas in this book. As a long time software tester, I can't say they were paradigm shifting things, but a fresh look at stuff you already know is good too.
The book was well written and easy to read, but still packed a pretty good punch for it's size. Well worth the time to read.
The book was well written and easy to read, but still packed a pretty good punch for it's size. Well worth the time to read.
May 17, 2021
I found it very helpful at work for giving a framework to design a Software Quality strategy. I think the principles apply to developing strategies in general (at least in the software industry). I expect I'll be referring back to this book during my career.
January 14, 2023
Easy to read and still has a lot of interesting ideas
January 7, 2024
Good short overview of what it takes to bring quality software products to market starting from the vision and the culture to best practices. I’m passing this book to my CTO to read next.
January 13, 2021
The book is just perfect for QA motivation.
You know, there are tons of books about successful success in your life. This book is kinda the same, but about your life as a Quality Lead.
I liked it, because it shows you basic and the most valuable QA concepts in a simple way. Authors added a lot of real-story examples with company names and heroes. It was a surprise for me to find Airbnb, HelloFresh and SurveyMonkey on the pages of this book, as I'm a fan of theirs services.
The last chapter of the book contained a lot of links to resources and helpful tools, so you can easily go from theory to practice.
Well... If you need some inspiration in your day-to-day QA work, this book will give it.
You know, there are tons of books about successful success in your life. This book is kinda the same, but about your life as a Quality Lead.
I liked it, because it shows you basic and the most valuable QA concepts in a simple way. Authors added a lot of real-story examples with company names and heroes. It was a surprise for me to find Airbnb, HelloFresh and SurveyMonkey on the pages of this book, as I'm a fan of theirs services.
The last chapter of the book contained a lot of links to resources and helpful tools, so you can easily go from theory to practice.
Well... If you need some inspiration in your day-to-day QA work, this book will give it.
February 10, 2020
Highly recommended not only for testers but for all managers as well!
It’s obvious why the book cover has 5 stars on it ;) Although this book consists of 136 pages, the authors include a lot of examples and best practices from well-known companies.
The message is this.
Being good at testing is no longer enough to have a successful product: “QA professionals must be able to not only mitigate risk, but to translate its impact into words that drive behavior across the organization, from the developers to the executives.”
Book authors introduce quality narrative and remind us of the importance of quality culture.
It’s obvious why the book cover has 5 stars on it ;) Although this book consists of 136 pages, the authors include a lot of examples and best practices from well-known companies.
The message is this.
Being good at testing is no longer enough to have a successful product: “QA professionals must be able to not only mitigate risk, but to translate its impact into words that drive behavior across the organization, from the developers to the executives.”
Book authors introduce quality narrative and remind us of the importance of quality culture.
August 8, 2019
Recommended by a friend - and didn’t disappoint
I wasn’t planning on getting this book but got recommended it by a couple of friends who run tech startups. It’s changed the way I think about quality in our engineering team. I’d recommend this for other engineering leaders looking to improve quality at an organisational level. You can go through the book in under 4 hours which is a bonus. Definitely worth it.
I wasn’t planning on getting this book but got recommended it by a couple of friends who run tech startups. It’s changed the way I think about quality in our engineering team. I’d recommend this for other engineering leaders looking to improve quality at an organisational level. You can go through the book in under 4 hours which is a bonus. Definitely worth it.
August 24, 2019
A comprehensive & pragmatic read on Quality
A fascinating read into the depths of what drives good quality software. While it’s aimed at leaders in software company’s this book contains general principles that benefits alls aspiring leaders - no matter size of team and organisation.
Ronald’s breadth of experience and passion for the subject are obvious and make the expanse of knowledge shared in this book easy to consume and digest.
A fascinating read into the depths of what drives good quality software. While it’s aimed at leaders in software company’s this book contains general principles that benefits alls aspiring leaders - no matter size of team and organisation.
Ronald’s breadth of experience and passion for the subject are obvious and make the expanse of knowledge shared in this book easy to consume and digest.
September 18, 2019
I expected this book to be more software-oriented, however, I got a ton of ideas on how to be a better leader throughout my organization.
This book is definitely more C-suite, directors and leaders - or those aspiring to be one.
I'd also highly recommend the audiobook as Ronald is a great storyteller and he kept me entertained throughout the book.
My favorite sections were on developing a "Quality Narrative" and the area on "Growth Metrics".
Highly recommend!
This book is definitely more C-suite, directors and leaders - or those aspiring to be one.
I'd also highly recommend the audiobook as Ronald is a great storyteller and he kept me entertained throughout the book.
My favorite sections were on developing a "Quality Narrative" and the area on "Growth Metrics".
Highly recommend!
August 8, 2019
This is a great book. I know that Ronald, as an author, has put the enormous time to interview and digest information from the most prominent companies.
"In order to provide true continuous testing, you need to test a product at every stage of its lifecycle, from the initial concept through to testing in production and every point in between."
"In order to provide true continuous testing, you need to test a product at every stage of its lifecycle, from the initial concept through to testing in production and every point in between."
February 23, 2021
A fresh an insightful read on QA, the authors have areal grasp into the industry and what Engineering leaders and QA professionals are going through and need. Fantastic for engineers, product managers and tech leaders, there is something here for everyone. I particularly liked the case studies which made the theory real. Anyone who is invested in creating a culture of quality should read this!
January 4, 2025
Recommended to you if working on software development projects and want to understand a little more about the quality. If you are a software tester-analyst thinking on take on any rol leading QA teams this should be a must in my opinion.
September 25, 2019
Great book on software quality.
November 3, 2019
gives you some insight and different angles of thinking about quality
February 18, 2021
Lots of thought provoking ideas
This book has charged my brain and I am ready to look at the quality within my team with fresh eyes.
This book has charged my brain and I am ready to look at the quality within my team with fresh eyes.
October 2, 2024
“Leading Quality” is a solid read for anyone interested in modern challenges around quality in software development. It dives into a lot of relevant issues that teams face today. I had high expectations, especially since it was recommended by James Bach, whose book Lessons Learned in Software Testing has been a QA bible for me. While this book delivers in many areas, I was hoping for just a bit more depth in some spots.
That said, it’s not just for QA professionals—anyone outside of IT could find valuable insights here. My one gripe is that I wasn’t able to access the audiobook version from the link they provided, which knocks it down a bit for me. But overall, it’s definitely worth a read, and I’m looking forward to what the authors do next, especially with how much has changed in the last five years in the last 5 years of IT industry.
That said, it’s not just for QA professionals—anyone outside of IT could find valuable insights here. My one gripe is that I wasn’t able to access the audiobook version from the link they provided, which knocks it down a bit for me. But overall, it’s definitely worth a read, and I’m looking forward to what the authors do next, especially with how much has changed in the last five years in the last 5 years of IT industry.
April 9, 2024
There are plenty of books in the market about many technologies, so if you are an engineer and want to get up-to-speed writing code, you can grab a couple of those books and start writing your projects. However, I usually struggle to find good resources for managing variables that aren't tech-related, such as strategies, communication, and solving managerial problems, especially in the QA field.
This book is a good resource to cover those gaps. It gathers real experiences from leaders of different companies and presents them super-digested (even with TL;DR at the end of each chapter) so anyone who reads it can easily grasp the ideas.
Overall, this is a good book if you are trying to outline a Quality strategy for your team.
This book is a good resource to cover those gaps. It gathers real experiences from leaders of different companies and presents them super-digested (even with TL;DR at the end of each chapter) so anyone who reads it can easily grasp the ideas.
Overall, this is a good book if you are trying to outline a Quality strategy for your team.
October 2, 2021
The book offers a high-level view on why quality in software projects is important. It gives you a feel-good blanket that you can throw over yourself and know that you want to do the right thing. Unfortunately, the book is very thin on details. Most is a good (but too short) summary of important points and opinions. If you search for something actionable then this book is not for you.
The TL;DR sections could be at the beginning of a chapter. That way one would know if there is something new and worthwhile to read or if that chapter could be skipped without any loss.
The TL;DR sections could be at the beginning of a chapter. That way one would know if there is something new and worthwhile to read or if that chapter could be skipped without any loss.
January 13, 2026
Quite useful, even though some points seem common sense for me. Short, very structured, it makes you think about right questions like quality narrative in your company or growth metrics, and can be used as manual. What I especially liked is the examples from different types of real projects. Also the authors don’t give you the impression that’s it’s very easy to build and lead quality for you project and explicitly say that “if you’re not confused… you’re probably not doing it right”.
Unfortunately, the links for additional resources provided in my copy are not working. That’s a shame.
Unfortunately, the links for additional resources provided in my copy are not working. That’s a shame.
December 4, 2020
The book is all over the place. There is also a few chapters that neither seem to have any direct connection to the software quality nor go deep enough to be useful on their own. Still, I think it provides a fair amount of value if you're not directly involved in, but genuinely curious about, the role that quality plays in success of a digital product and the organizational function that stands behind it.
July 15, 2023
A lot of very helpful tips and guidance on how to approach quality with software teams and products. I found this very useful and plan to implement its ideas into my day to day work and through my career.
August 27, 2025
Good book that explains how to transform an organisation from the quality perspective. It's more a leadership and transformation book than a QA book, so I can recommend it to leaders, but not to people who want to know more about software quality.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews