Flaky tests are a leadership problem
Flaky tests aren’t a testing issue. They’re a signal of leadership norms: what gets tolerated, what gets re-run, what gets fixed.
A flaky test gets re-run. Then ignored. Then quarantined. Then someone deletes it. The whole arc is allowed because it’s nobody’s job to stop it, and that’s the leadership failure, not a testing one.
The norm to set
Flaky tests don’t get re-run. They get fixed or removed within 48 hours. Re-running them once teaches everyone the wrong lesson, that flaky is acceptable. The bar has to be set at the moment, because every re-run normalizes one more.
What this requires from leadership
Naming a flaky test owner per area. Putting flaky-test remediation on the actual sprint, not as a "good to have." Resisting the pressure to merge with a flaky test "just this once." Each of those costs short-term speed; the alternative costs you the entire test suite over a year.
Flaky tests aren’t broken tests. They’re broken norms. The fix is at the management level.