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The focus of my work is the power that concrete examples have to cut through the Gordian Knot of misunderstanding that ties up so many software projects. I perform my work mostly by sitting down with people to help them with their tasks, be they writing code, designing tests, or figuring out how to tell programmers what the right product would look like.

I consult almost exclusively with projects that are, or would like to be, agile. Although I am most often hired to work on testing strategy and implementation, I stick my nose into everything. I see my job as doing the most good I can in the situation I encounter.

Part of the reason for paying attention to the whole project is that I believe that good discipline and proper skills—exercised by the whole team—can lead to something all too rare: ease at work. Software development doesn't have to be a constant struggle against balky code, tools, processes, and people. It can be pleasant, even joyful.

Because of my love of ease at work, I am a fan of the Ruby language. When I can, I teach testers and other nonprogrammers on the project how to use it to free their time for more important tasks.