Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I recommend an organization for the future or work as we know it.

This is the new company. It is an agile team that has worked together on many software projects. The Team has learned much on all these past projects. The Team has become high performing (it “jelled” a long time ago). The Team can do what seems to be amazing stuff in a short time.

Hire The Team, not individuals.

How do you hire the team? Simple. Here is their “interface” or contract:

Give us an room (size specified) with Internet access via ethernet ports on the walls (access speed specified). We will bring the furniture, computers, white boards, etc. We setup the room the night before work begins. We’ve done this setup many times and have learned how to do it efficiently.

The Team arrives at dawn—seven persons. You supply someone who can describe the desired product. You pay $10,000 a day.

Life as we know it: Groups of persons work on agile projects. They learn how to work with one another. The group becomes more than the sum of its parts. The project ends; the group disbands, and the individuals go to other groups to work other projects. Start at zero again with the learning and growing.

Life as it could be: Let The Team stay together. Let them use what they have learned. One way to do it is for The Team to form it own company. Yes, this is like “two guys and a truck” and a movie production company and a band that has played together since high school.

Why can’t we do it in software development or in developing any other intellectual product for someone? I suppose there are reasons why the band can’t stay together. Perhaps we can learn from those heart-crushing breakups.