Building Stronger Human Teams by Managing the Inner Lizards
InfoQ Homepage Articles Building Stronger Human Teams by Managing the Inner Lizards
Very early in your software building career, you hit the upper limit of what you could accomplish on your own. You naturally sought to extend beyond the limit by enlisting help from other human beings. This didn't have to be a formal boss/subordinate relationship. In fact, it usually isn't. Maybe it was as simple as asking the person next to you for insight into a technical question, or for a second set of eyes on your code. Either way, you immediately encountered the problem. Machines do exactly what you tell them to do. People, not so much.
People are messy and complicated. They come with issues, concerns, and hang-ups completely unrelated to what you want from them. They misunderstand your questions. They invent reasons to avoid you. They find ways to transform your requests into opportunities to satisfy their needs. I'm not referring to a few weirdos who fail to conform to your expectations. I'm talking about everyone. That includes you. It includes me. It includes your product owner, your customers, and your CEO.
