On Wed, 21 Oct 2020 01:54:06 -0500, Michael J. Mahon wrote:

> I agree with that assessment with one addition:  the team leader (more
> accurate than “boss”) also has the responsibility to provide “air
> support” to keep higher level management from disrupting the team’s
operation.
> ;-)
>
Yes, agreed. A good team leader does that so seamlessly that team members
don't notice it happening.

> I loved leading or participating in a real team, which, in my experience
> requires some practice to achieve mutual respect, becoming a team.  The
> most effective and delightful teams I’ve had the pleasure to participate
> in or lead have been highly interdisciplinary, with 6-12 members.
>
Another nice-to-have that Logica did was to set up the core team (leader,
designer, and programming manager if it was a decent sized project)
as soon as the request to tender had been accepted, so the team itself
was responsible for costing the project and negotiating deadlines. That
also worked very well.


> I draw a strong contrast with a committee, which often resorts to voting
> to make decisions.
>
Definitely!

> The observation that “All of us are smarter than any of us” is
> definitely applicable to a team.
>
Agreed.

> I recall a Dilbert cartoon which stated that the IQ of a committee is
> determined by dividing the IQ of the lowest IQ member by the number of
> people on the committee. ;-)
>
Seems about right.


--
Martin    | martin at
Gregorie  | gregorie dot org

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