Quality Assurance and Parenting

 While Product Development seems like the cool job that everyone wants, Quality Assurance seems perfect for those who love to work in the balance between order and chaos. Product Developers look for reasons to say yes (yes, the product will do this and that); Quality Assurance specialists look for reasons to say no (you can’t do that, we shouldn’t do this). If you’re considering a career in Quality Assurance or maybe just considering having children, here are three situations you will probably face.

 

This is a series of posts in which I share snippets of what it's like to be a food scientist. As a Quality Assurance Specialist and former product developer, there are some lessons I never learned in school and some challenges I never saw coming. 

 

3 Ways Quality Assurance is Like Being a Parent

(1) The Party and Due Diligence

When I was was a product developer, I felt like a parent trying to send something out into the world that everyone would love and want at their party. Moving over to the Quality Assurance side still feels like being a parent, but this time it’s my job to prevent the party.

As a product developer, you always accept the risk that something you put time and energy into won’t get the reception you’re hoping for. My second pseudo-child, Greenberry Shakeology, reminds me of Neville Longbottom: often overshadowed by some of the other characters, saddled with an unfortunate, awkward name, but really not so bad if given a chance to prove itself.

As QA, your job is to mitigate risk through due diligence. Homework and chores are often a prerequisite for allowing a child to go somewhere fun; document review, risk assessment and supplier audits are often a prerequisite for giving the green light to purchase a new raw material.


(2) The Cookie on the Floor and the Unfortunate Coincidence

As a parent, you’re going to have to reconsider your stance on the “5 second rule”. You may have eaten peanuts out of the communal bowl at the bar, but when your child drops their snack onto the floor and reaches down to pick it up, you have to make a split-decision whether you’re willing to accept the risk and let them eat it. Like an overprotective parent, the default response for those in QA is “No” for the sake of safety. We say “no” because we believe "better safe than sorry.”

Someone has to be the bad cop and consider worse-case scenarios. The best decision may not be the popular decision, and as a wise man once said, "We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy." It’s an unfortunate coincidence that a not-so-nice name appears in the title "Quality Assurance". This is like the ’s’ in “lisp” or that abbreviation’s own abbreviation is so long. Parenting and QA can be thankless jobs, and it’s important to stay firm and not take the objections to your decision personal.

(3) Having the final say (sometimes)

So why would anyone want to do Quality? Because it’s fun to know the answer. To have the last word. Sourcing wants to buy something because it’s cheap. PD wants to use something else because it tastes the best. Operations just wants something fast because they want to move the finished product out the door. So when there's opposing views or uncertainty, who gets called to resolve the debate? Quality. Quality can assess the situation, the risk to the business, the risk to the consumer, and make the call. We’re not always right; we’re not always listened to; but we’re always the ones to ask.

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