Quote - Automation Misperception

Automation - let's talk about you for a minute...

"Some software managers suffer from the misconception that automated testing always equals better testing, and they mandate that all testing must be automated. Such mandates have harmed many projects."

-Cem Kaner, James Bach, Bret Pettichord
Lessons Learned in Software Testing

Let's take a step back and recognize that automation is only valuable insomuch as it provides value... I know, you'd think that was a basic concept, but so many testers feel like automation is the end-all be-all in testing - that you can't be a competent tester without automating next to everything.  There is certainly a place for automated testing, but it comes down to the pendulum I talked about previously: http://qamanagementspace.blogspot.com/2013/01/testing-pendulum.html

"Without an oracle, test automation can find only the most egregious of failures: crashes, hangs (maybe), and exceptions.  And the fact that automation is itself software often means that the crash is in the test case and not in the software! ... Automation is important, but it is not enough, and an overreliance on it can endanger the success of a product in the field"

-James A. Whittaker
Exploratory Software Testing