If you’re not hearing at least some yelling from your tech team, there’s something wrong.
A client phoned me this week, very concerned that his product and tech people were seemingly at war. I dug further and found they’d had one challenging conversation in which they’d disagreed vigorously about prioritising some work–and the result was a much shorter, better list of tasks for the next sprint. I told my client not to worry: shouting isn’t the problem if it’s productive. The key word is “productive” of course; bullying or pigheadedness or similar nonsense deserves no such praise. But respectful discord that leads to progress is just like muscle pain during exercise: a sign of growth.
This first appeared in my weekly Squirrel Squadron email, which goes out every Monday, and was originally posted on 11th July 2022. To get my provocative thoughts and tips direct to your inbox first, sign up here: https://squirrelsquadron.com/