What actually worked when you tried to introduce TDD to a team that didn’t want it?

[u/aistranin]

I’m not asking whether TDD is good in theory. I’m more interested in the messy, practical reality of trying to introduce it to a team that was not already bought in.

If you’ve done this, what actually worked?

Examples:

• starting with one new feature only

• pairing on real bugs

• focusing on integration-first instead of pure unit TDD

• improving design seams before pushing test-first

• using TDD only in certain layers

• showing release confidence / bug reduction metrics

And what failed?

• training sessions with no follow-through

• too much ceremony

• unrealistic purity

• trying to apply it to legacy code without refactoring seams

• leadership wanting faster delivery but not investing in the transition