Although the Agile Manifesto tells us that the team in a Software Development Project is self steering it also tells us that we should build a project around motivated individuals. How large is the team? And why do organizations still support a strange, overly large and democratic system when it comes to Software Development Projects?
In my view the ideal situation is a small team that consists of actors and developers. This team is motivated and inspired to deliver the right solution, in a determined set of time. This team has democratic values and works with vision. But when the team gets (too) large, you aren’t able to sustain this democratic situation.
Just like any other type of project, Software Development isn’t about satisfying everyone and building compromises, it’s about delivering a project, in order to create a sustainable and profitable organization. This means, in the practice, that we can’t satisfy everyone and that we should go for the best solution, possible in the amount of time and money we’re given.
I’ve encountered lot’s of situations where the entire organization was asked for insight at any given point of the project. This is, in the beginning, not a bad idea. But it doesn’t work. Projects that get longer and longer, just because compromises had to be developed in order to make everyone happy.
Do you have the solution? As I think of it, isn’t the team (or: shouldn’t the team be) something like ‘parliament’ and decide for the organization?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
The key difference between a programming team and a parliament is that the parliament has the ability to impose its solution on the public. Even then things turn ugly more often than not – look at the current debate on health care reform, for example.
A programming team has even less power – if they don’t compromise, their customers (the rest of the organization) will simply reject their solution, and their positions will be eliminated in the next round of layoffs.
Thanks for your comment on this, quanticle.
For me, I live in The Netherlands, so I can’t debate with you on the ‘healthcare’ issue, although I would like to. I just don’t have enough insights and background information about this.
I really do think that we mean the same.
But: isn’t it so that parlaiments need to make sure they won’t be eliminated in the next rounds of layoffs? (e.g. the next electorial voting?)
Just a thought…
And of course: we, as developers, need to create what the customer want. In this equation the customer, or end user, is the civilian. What I meant was not to listen to everybody in the development / IT part of an organisation. They are not the customer….
(Excuses for my bad English by the way, hope I still make sence…)
Regards,
Douwe Pieter