Experimentation on Trial

I've been asked twice in as many weeks whether there is evidence for mobbing and pairing efficacy. These asks came from engineering managers concerned about their team's productivity. I interpreted this as, "show me the data before I permit this team's choice."

Having to convince a gatekeeper is a bit like mistaking collaborative software development for a courtroom drama. Must we prosecute for the team's right to try something new and see if it works for them? Why, counselor, are you placing the burden of proof in the way of team experimentation?

What's the downside of "that didn't work for us?" What's the upside of a team actively engaged in finding new things?

These behaviors from management might indicate a pathological or bureaucratic culture. Commanders be commandin'. A manager supporting a generative culture encourages experimentation and team choice. These are the cultures we encourage and foster in something like the dojo.

Remember, friends, the first line of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development:

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.

Finding techniques that help teams perform at their peak means granting the freedom to experiment, learn, and, yes, sometimes fail. Stop using research as an obstacle to team growth. Your people are intelligent, thinking and feeling, adults. They don't need an expert to pre-validate all of their experiments. That is not how experiments work.

The defense rests.