The team is the atomic unit of success
When something goes wrong, it’s not “his fault”, it’s “our fault”.
Unless we’re in the unenviable position of hiring or firing team members, then we don’t have to worry about individual team performance. When I asked how many people at the recent software craftsmanship gathering were in this position, less than 10% of the people there put their hands up. Chances are it isn’t our job to worry about any individual’s performance except our own.
The team is the atomic unit of success or failure. When individuals screwed up at Eden, I used to say that I wasn’t interested in whether they’d made a mistake, as mistakes are guaranteed to happen. What I’m more interested in is what caused the mistake to occur, and that they used the experience to improve the process or their own practice.
Your team or business is perfectly designed to achieve the result you are currently getting. I’ve heard of people being fired on the spot for making mistakes. What a waste of all the learning they’ve just experienced.
So next time Bob breaks the build (again), let’s have a look at why. Is it because he’s new to the team and no-one has told him how important a passing build is? Is it because the clients put him under a lot of pressure and he didn’t feel that he had time to run the tests? If it’s because he’s forgetful and careless, how do we mitigate for that weakness? For example, would encouraging Bob to pair program help?
Even if it does appear to come down to an individual issue, there are still process improvements to consider. Are we hiring slowly enough? Are we checking properly for a culture fit? Are we involving the team enough in pre-hire decisions?
Each of these questions facilitates a team culture change: Bob didn’t screw up, the team screwed up by not having quite the right culture or process, and the team will fix it.
Clearly there are some cases where individuals need to be dealt with personally by those responsible, but it’s less often than we think and normally not our problem. Let’s not make it our problem and further destabilise our teams through a damaging witch hunt.
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Building the Future
Something has been on my mind for months. The rapid evolution of AI agents has opened up possibilities I cannot ignore.
We are witnessing the emergence of semi autonomous agents that will fundamentally reshape how we work and communicate. The opportunities in this space are extraordinary. I am diving deeper into this world of AI agent development and product creation.
My newsletter is evolving. Instead of dispensing tips from a position of authority, I invite you on a journey of discovery. I will document my experiences building with AI, how to apply my tech experience in a new world, and navigating the inevitable struggles and setbacks.
Read on for several key areas I am exploring.
Read moreStartup Success Stories Are Flawed
In his book on mapping business strategy, Simon Wardley makes an observation that struck me hard recently.
You cannot learn chess from a list of moves. Even with access to every grandmaster game ever played, simply studying the sequence of moves will not make you a strong player. Without understanding the board position, the strategic context, and the invisible forces at play, these move lists are merely shadows of the actual game.
This observation triggered a thought that has been bothering me about how we approach startup knowledge and learning.
Read moreFounder mode is emergency surgery
“Founder mode” is emergency surgery. It is not the right way to run a healthy business.
If your company is sick, you need to fix it. That means courageous decisions only you can make. You will need to dive in and operate sometimes. That doesn’t mean you create bottlenecks by deciding everything for years to come.
Read moreHow to Build a Robust LLM Application
Last month at Cherrypick we launched a brand new meal generator that uses LLMs to create personalized meal plans.
It has been a great success and we are pleased with the results. Customers are changing their plans 30% less and using their plans in their baskets 14% more.
However, getting to this point was not straightforward, and we learned many things that can go wrong when building these types of systems.
Here is what we learned about building an LLM-based product that actually works, and ends up in production rather than languishing in an investor deck as a cool tech demo.
Read moreWhy Hybrid Work Works
As someone who lives an hour and a half from my London office, I love working from home. I can help my teenagers out of the door in the morning, and I am present when the family comes home. I can have coffee with my wife Ellie before we start work. I prepare dinner during my lunch break, and receive deliveries. I can contribute more effort during my day to Cherrypick, free from distractions, interruptions and the long commute. I would struggle to work effectively five days a week in London.
I also love working from the office. It is an opportunity to spend real time with the people I work with. Communication is easier and I spend less time on screens. I can train less experienced colleagues much more efficiently than video chat. I can ask for and give advice and help in person, cutting down long feedback cycles. I would struggle to work effectively five days a week from home.
Much of the debate around hybrid working appears to be a zero sum argument about why working from home is “better” or “worse”, and why working in the office is “more” or “less” productive.
One is not better than the other; they are just different. I think we need both for a balanced life.
Here are some pointers for how to have a productive conversation about hybrid in your team.
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