I was still studying software engineering at the university. While watching some random conference videos, I came across conference talks about software leadership and teamwork. And suddenly I realised: “software development is a team sport”.
Software was like group assignments at school. This thought was horrifying! In all my years in school, I can only remember one group assignment that was joyful. All the others were horrible experiences. I’d rather worked alone, even if I had to do 3-5 times the work. Simon Sinek put’s it best in Quote: cynicism, paranoia, mistrust and self-interest
Get those conditions wrong and the opposite will occur:
- cynicism,
- paranoia,
- mistrust and
- self-interest.
I loved programming but I hated group projects. I hated all group projects with a passion! All except one, where 4 friends and I worked on a project. I myself wasn’t even part of the group assigned. I joined in on the work just for fun! The actual group I was assigned to, I had to also do the work for. And as always, it was an unpleasant, toxic culture.
But there was a small ray of hope, in that one project with friends.
Maybe, there's a way to make more group projects as fun as that one?
My love for programming pushed me, so I started looking for a solution. I started studying topics like: leadership, psychology, company culture, motivation. Reading books and watching conference talks. And that spark of hope, became a small flame:
Great teamwork, can multiply the efforts of those involved.
Creating something more than the sum of the parts.
More than any one individual could have conceived!
This is what I wanted.
I started attending conferences and meetups to practice my social skills.
As a student, you can get into conferences much cheaper. (sometimes free!)
All you have to do is ask!
And I conquered my fear of
- talking to strangers
- going to places I’ve never been before
- going to gatherings without knowing what it was about
I did a small pet project with a fellow student, instead of going at it alone. Switched from university to university college. There was more programming in group there! And I started doing summer jobs in software development.
All these experiences
- horrible school group assignments
- one school assignment with friends
- the ray of hope “multiplied team greatness”
Together this forms the foundation for my quest My quest for a high-performing team My quest for an awesome team culture
How do I collaborate, so that working together is enjoyable?
How do I collaborate, so that we multiply each other?
Topics of interest:
- agile methodologies
- accelerate
- communication
- teamwork
- leadership
- team culture
- event storming
- facilitation
- vulnerability
- empathy
- emotions
- psychological safety