The-Rands-Test

What It Is

The Rands Test is an 11-question organisational health diagnostic for software engineering teams, created by Michael Lopp (writing as “Rands”) in Managing Humans - Lopp - 2019, Chapter 3. It is a deliberate adaptation of Joel Spolsky’s Joel Test (2000), which assessed technical engineering practices. The Rands Test shifts focus from tools and process to the human and managerial infrastructure that determines whether a team can do its best work.

Each question is binary (yes/no), scored as +1 for yes. It answers two fundamental questions: “What the hell is going on?” (collective awareness) and “Where am I?” (individual career visibility).

Scoring

• 8–11: Healthy environment — communication and safety infrastructure is in place
• 5–7: Warning zone — identifiable gaps in managerial practice
• Below 5: Serious problems — the organisational substrate is broken

The 11 Questions

1. Consistent 1:1s — Do you have a regular 1:1 with your manager that covers more than status?
2. Team meetings — Does your team have a regular team meeting?
3. Status reports — Does your manager send a weekly status report? (This is scored inversely — having status reports indicates information hoarding rather than communication)
4. Ability to say no — Can you say no to your manager?
5. Company strategy — Can you explain your company’s product strategy?
6. Business state — Do you know the approximate state of the business — revenue, growth, challenges?
7. Leadership transparency — Does your leader regularly speak to the whole team and tell them what they are thinking?
8. Career visibility — Do you know what you want to do next? Does your manager?
9. Strategic thinking time — Do you have time in your week to do strategic thinking, not just tactical execution?
10. Grapevine health — Is the team’s grapevine healthy — are rumours mostly accurate and constructive?
11. Office hours — Does your manager hold regular open office hours?

Why Each Question Matters

• 1:1s and team meetings measure whether structured human contact exists at all
• Status reports flag whether information flows as push (manager → team) or pull (manager harvests through conversation)
• Saying no tests psychological safety — the ability to disagree upward
• Strategy and business state assess whether engineers have enough context to make good decisions
• Leadership transparency checks whether direction-setting is shared openly or hoarded
• Career visibility determines if growth is managed or left to chance
• Strategic time reveals whether the team has headroom to improve or is perpetually in execution mode
• Grapevine health is a proxy for cultural trust — healthy rumours indicate psychological safety
• Office hours signal managerial accessibility and openness to unscheduled dialogue

Comparison with Related Frameworks

Framework	Focus	Year
Joel Test	Technical practices (source control, builds, testing)	2000
Rands Test	Managerial and communication infrastructure	2007/2019
DORA Metrics	Software delivery performance (speed and stability)	2018
Project Aristotle	Psychological safety and team dynamics	2016

The Rands Test occupies a distinct niche: it is fast (5 minutes), binary, and specifically targets the manager-team relationship rather than technical processes or culture broadly.

Practical Use

• Self-assessment: Engineers use it to evaluate whether a prospective employer’s management culture is healthy before joining
• Manager audit: Managers use it to identify their own gaps and prioritise improvements
• Periodic check-ins: Run quarterly to track organisational health over time
• Interview tool: Use it to probe a hiring manager’s management philosophy during job interviews

Future Connections

Related atomic notes planned for creation: 1on1-Meeting-Formats, Information-Starvation, Manager-as-Communication-Hub

Related Concepts

• Managing Humans - Lopp - 2019
• 1on1-Meeting-Formats
• Information-Starvation
• Manager-as-Communication-Hub

Sources

• Lopp, Michael (2019). Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager. 3rd ed. Apress. ISBN: 978-1-484-23712-4. Available: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4842-3713-1

  • Chapter 3: “The Rands Test” — primary source for all 11 questions and scoring system
  • Also published online: https://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-rands-test/

• Spolsky, Joel (2000). “The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code.” Joel on Software. Available: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/08/09/the-joel-test-12-steps-to-better-code/

  • Original 12-question binary diagnostic that the Rands Test adapts. Scoring logic (12 = perfect, 10 = problems) directly parallels Rands’ approach.

• Forsgren, Nicole, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim (2018). Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations. IT Revolution Press. ISBN: 978-1-942788-33-1.

  • DORA metrics provide a complementary, delivery-focused framework for assessing team health; contrasts with Rands’ managerial focus.

• Google re:Work (2016). “Understand team effectiveness.” Research summary of Project Aristotle. Available: https://rework.withgoogle.com/intl/en/guides/understanding-team-effectiveness

  • Identified psychological safety as the top predictor of team effectiveness across 180+ Google teams — aligns with why “can you say no?” and “grapevine health” are meaningful proxy questions.

• Dhar, Nitin (2021). “Manager of managers — health checks.” Total Engineering Management. Medium. Available: https://medium.com/one-to-n/manager-of-managers-health-checks-ba95626bca48

  • Practitioner perspective on applying diagnostic frameworks like the Rands Test at manager-of-managers scale.

Note

This content was drafted with assistance from AI tools for research, organization, and initial content generation. All final content has been reviewed, fact-checked, and edited by the author to ensure accuracy and alignment with the author’s intentions and perspective.