Software Project Leadership

spl.drwill.co/freeconsult
We are looking at another vertex of the iron triangle … cost … can we predict how much something will cost?  If we cannot then how do we make a rational argument to build it?  

spl.drwill.co/freeconsult
When one of my team members brought a new product idea to me, I had two questions.  The first was: who (precisely) is the customer?  Please note that shrugging your shoulders conveys exactly what your expect … that you don’t know.  In this case it means that you haven’t thought the thing through …

I have always worked a lot. I mean, a lot. I guess I am an “ergophile” which is a nice way of saying “workaholic.” But like any good workaholic, I have never felt I needed an intervention … well, maybe once …

Spl.drwill.co/freeconsult
Awhile back I noticed my team was stuck and not making much progress on some issues that had been plaguing us for awhile.  I asked for a synopsis of what was going on and discovered that they were trying to resolve 3 issues all at once … they were combining installing a new CI/CD system with deploying to a new hosting platform and adding a brand new process on top of that … to fix pipeline automation, excess platform costs and process deficiencies … all at once!

https://spl.drwill.co/teams

Smarty-pants philosopher Aristotle once said: “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

spl.drwill.co/freeconsult
Rigid structures are fragile.  Compare the mighty oak to a palm tree … in a hurricane.  An organization … or a supply chain … that is too lean has no slack and therefore has no flexibility.  Guess what happens when the wind starts to blow?

Are they a biohazard?  What should be done about “social loafers” or “toxic team members?”  This is “toxicity’s” very own episode … one might not be enough!

If you poke around on the internet looking for information about “toxic” team members … employees … co-workers … supervisors … whatever, you will discover an entire zoo of toxic species.  It is a wonder any work gets done.  Ever.

If you think building a team when everybody works in the same building is difficult … wait until you try it with people scattered across the globe … in different time zones, from different cultures, different native languages … 

How does a group develop integrity - wholeness, cohesion, unity? How does it become a team?

A team is not a collection of individuals.  If it devolves into that then you can stand back and watch it disintegrate … notice that word … dis - integrate … to lose cohesion or unity.  The loss of integrity.

https://www.thebalancecareers.com

https://hbr.org/2009/06/rethinking-trust