Love the coaches idea too. I setup a weekly "show and tell" with one of my development teams a little while ago. The idea came out of a joke, but it ended up being incredibly fun and valuable. We basically spent Friday afternoons sharing cool patterns, frameworks, and potential project related ideas. Lots was learning for some people, lots of productivity holes filled, and lots of bonding.
Many project managers and team leads could probably introduce 20% time/coaches/show and tell without getting any super high level buy-in, as long as their team's continue to deliver. Most just don't think about it or are afraid of taking on the risk. On Wed, Jun 22, 2011 at 3:48 PM, Martin Paulo <martin.pa...@gmail.com>wrote: > If we are going to use Barcelona as an analogy then are we saying that > companies should have coaches whose sole role is to improve the staff? > And that the staff should have regular time to practice and develop > their skills? Because I'll buy into that idea - and would love to work > at that company. > > Sadly, in my entire career not one company I have worked for has had a > formal program for developing their IT staff: and when I have > discussed doing something as simple as Google's or Atlassian's 20% > time I have been met with howls of derision - and comments such as > "we're not funding that - gosh imagine telling customers that they are > paying for our staff to sit around doing nothing". > > IMHO that 20% time is a necessary investment in keeping your staff > ahead in the *knowledge* economy - and entirely consistent with the > agile development methodology. Having a coach to manage the whole > process sounds like a fantastic idea! > > Also, I have worked with some real super star developers: and some > have been so obnoxious that serial resignations of lesser mortals > followed them from project to project. The loss of knowledge and time > due to the "lesser" people leaving far outweighed any gain from having > those super star developers on board. So if your super star can't work > with a team he really isn't a super star... > > Martin > > On 22 June 2011 23:07, Mick Liubinskas (Pollenizer) <bigm...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Yep, that's a good point. I've often found that senior/star in one > > company, doing one thing, at one time does not mean senior/star every > > where/time. Senior people often have to unlearn before they can work > > in a new system, where as younger people are a bit more raw. > > > > Star players or star team, key is also to have a coach that can bring > > out the best in them. It is rare that the star in a business is also > > the coach. > > > > Mick "Messi" Liubinskas > > > > On Jun 22, 10:13 pm, Justin Tauber <anotherjus...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> "Good established companies can grow awesome people as well as just hire > them" > >> > >> Nice. > >> > >> Justin Tauber > >> 0422 376 922 > >> > >> On 22/06/2011, at 5:43 PM, Matt Moore <innotect...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> > >> > Good established companies can grow awesome people as well as just > hire them > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach > Australia mailing list. > > > > Guidelines on discussion: > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den > > > > No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. > > > > To post to this group, send email to > > silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en > > > > > > -- > ================================================================== > > Martin Paulo, BSc. > Software Developer > > Tel : +61-3-9434 2508 (Home) > Tel : 04 205 20339 (Mobile) > Site: http://www.thepaulofamily.net > > "Nobody goes there any more. It's too crowded" - Yogi Berra. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach > Australia mailing list. > > Guidelines on discussion: > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den > > No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. > > To post to this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Guidelines on discussion: http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. To post to this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
