Software development is a grown-up activity. It requires intelligence, focus, and the ability to overcome massive frustration. Despite the hype surrounding Artificial Intelligence, only humans can write scalable software that delivers real-world value. It is why developers, in their idle moments, often lapse into childhood playfulness. The focus and mental energy it takes to write software requires a release, manifested in Nerf gun fights or an activity that business people might consider childish. It creates the illusion that knowledge workers are overgrown children. In truth, knowledge workers are the most adult people in the organization, and it is time for business leaders to treat the professionals who generate profit like adults.
We can see this behavior within the business community as CEOs demand that workers return to the office. Most of the requests are tone-deaf and focused more on power than the benefit to the business. I have written about this tug-of-war between the workers who produce the wealth and those who oversee them. I will side with the workers in this case because the COVID-19 pandemic proved that remote work is not only possible but profitable.
Old habits die hard in the business world, and micro-management of employees is the hardest to extinguish. For decades, businesses trained managers to ensure people followed policies and procedures. To ensure employees were productive throughout the day, managers scrutinized them to ensure they weren't wasting company time in a factory or traditional office. Instead of fostering teamwork or innovation, middle managers enforced compliance. It worked briefly but was deficient as the global economy became more competitive. Customers demanded value and innovation, so mindlessly stamping out parts or filling out forms would no longer work. As software and technology began to eat the world, it was evident that some other approach was necessary.
My mission throughout my career has been to ensure that work delivers value to customers and employees. This week Fortune magazine pointed out that old-fashioned management styles hurt productivity and treat workers like children. My experience in the business world confirms this theory. The new approach was the birth of lean manufacturing, Agile, Kanban, and digital transformation.
Treating employees like children boils down to a lack of trust. Managers do not trust the people doing the work correctly, and employees often feel they cannot trust their leadership to treat them respectfully. It is in this situation of mutual distrust where many of us work. We can do better.
I am a big fan of L. David Marquet's book "Turn the Ship Around." In the book, he talks about his experience as a United States nuclear submarine captain. When he joined the USS Santa Fe was the place where sailors had their careers go to die. Morale was low, the Navy rated the submarine at the bottom of the fleet, and senior enlisted people were retiring or quitting at an alarming rate. Over a year, Marquet helped transform the crew from people afraid to make mistakes to leaders who chased excellence. It wasn't an easy journey, and it had plenty of false starts, but the Santa Fe began practicing something called "intention-based leadership," and I am a convert.
With the help of senior enlisted people and buy-in from the crew, Marquet transformed a low-performing submarine into an example of the Pacific fleet by treating its sailors with respect and providing them with a sense of pride and responsibility for their work. Since a nuclear submarine costs an average of two billion dollars and has the firepower to extinguish an entire civilization, it is an impressive accomplishment.
Changing a global company is a difficult task, but if Marquet can do it on a nuclear submarine, then as Agile coaches or scrum masters, we can lead change in our organizations. The first step is changing the behavior of managers who would instead treat the people doing the work like children instead of the grown professionals they are.
It is a small ask, but the road to psychological safety and intentional leadership begins with one step.
Until next time.
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