The classical interaction between people supposed to work together on a product (marketing, product management, software development management, developers, designers, etc.) is driven by requirements. The usual (implicit) process is then
- I identify a problem I need to solve for doing my job (better)
- I identify things I would need to solve this problem
- I identify people around me who could provide me the things I need
- I require them – namely the others – to give me those things. Depending on my hierarchical position this part could be more or less easy…
- I collect others’interpretation of what I required
- I try to solve my problem with those things, and blame the others for not giving me what I required
Typical things I might require here are precise specifications, prioritized user stories, overall goal, estimates, cost, deadline, etc.
The main concern with this approach is inherent in the concept of others :
- although I might think I know what I need, my understanding is limited to the things I know, to my own domain, and thus I might not be aware of what others know.
- others are not very likely to understand what exactly I need, leading to a very incomplete solution.
My suggestion is to turn this interaction process upside-down :
- I identify a problem I need to solve for doing my job (better)
- I publicly expose my problem to the team : no others here
- Some of my teammates propose me things they can give me that would be relevant to solve my problem, according to their own knowledge and their own domain
- I collect what my teammates gave me
- I try to use those things to solve my problem, and improve collectively to a solution.
Some benefits of using this approach :
- My teammates understand my job better
- Non-obvious solutions might emerge
- Nobody feels like they are working for nothing, or losing their time
A very naive example now, to make things clearer : My job consists in hammering nails. For each kind of claw there is a kind of hammer that I get from my blacksmith. One day I am facing big difficulties with a new kind of claw.
- Classical interaction : I go to my blacksmith’s and ask him to make a bigger hammer.
- No-others interaction : I go to my blacksmith’s and show him the new kind of claw. He suggests me to use a screwdriver!
Of course this is all very theoretical, so any comments would be appreciated.