12: Holistic Testing with Lisa Crispin

We’re kicking off Season 2 of Engineering Quality with a very special guest - Lisa Crispin, a true pioneer in agile testing and one of the most influential voices in the quality engineering community.

In this episode, Lisa joins Ale, Veronika, and Royalee to explore holistic testing - an approach that goes beyond “testing early” and looks at quality across the entire software development lifecycle.

We discuss:

• What holistic testing really means (and why it’s more than shift-left)

• Why quality is a shared responsibility across the whole team

• How to build shared understanding before code is written

• Practical techniques like risk storming, example mapping, and pipeline mapping

• How testers can influence change without authority

• The power of relationships in DevOps and modern teams

Whether you’re a tester, developer, product manager, or engineering leader, this episode offers practical insights and inspiration to help you build better software - together!

Connect with Lisa:

🌐 Website: https://www.lisacrispin.com 

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisacrispin 

🦋 BlueSky: @lisacrispin.bsky.social

Follow us on social:

• 💼LinkedIn: Engineering Quality

• 🎥 YouTube: @EngineeringQuality

• 🌐 Website: https://www.engineeringqualitypodcast.com

• Email: [email protected]

References & People Mentioned in this Episode:

• Risk Storming by Beren Van Daele
• Mapping from Matt Wynne
• Ashley Hunsberger
• Abby Bangser
• Practical Guide to Testing in DevOps - By Katrina Clokie
• The Quality Coach's Handbook - Anne-Marie Charrett
• The Paradox of Choice
• XMind - Mind Mapping Tool