Pat Kua has a great article up titled 12 Years, 12 Lessons Working at ThoughtWorks. In his first section “Tools don’t replace thinking”, he hits on something that’s true for all entrepreneurs building SaaS products:
Too many times I have witnessed managers implement an organisational-wide tool that is locked down to a specific way of working. The tool fails to solve the problem, and actually blocks real work from getting done. Tools should be there to aid, to help prevent known errors and to help us remember repeated tasks, not to replace thinking.
Here are the 12 lessons:
- Tools don’t replace thinking
- Agile “transformations” rarely work unless the management group understand its values
- Safety is required for learning
- Everyone can be a leader
- Architects make the best decisions when they code
- Courage is required for change
- Congruence is essential for building trust
- Successful pair programming correlates with good collaboration
- Multi model thinking leads to more powerful outcomes
- Appreciate that everyone has different strengths
- Learning is a lifelong skill
- Happiness occurs through positive impact
While some lessons are developer centric, most are broadly applicable. Go read 12 Years, 12 Lessons Working at ThoughtWorks.
What else? What are some more takeaways from the article?
David Cummings on Startups 