A Foundational Team Effort

27Apr09

It hit me while watching this part of The Daily Show (yes, I admit I’m a fan): even writing a constitution can benefit from Agile/Lean principles! Richard Beeman didn’t get to explain all the details of how the team of 55 (how’s that for team size!) men writing the American Constitution proceeded, but I got this out of what he said:

they had a shared vision of what they wanted to achieve
they left their egos at the door
they managed to focus on just this team work for a long time (almost four months)
they overcame differences and pains by hanging out together
they practiced respect by not badmouthing each other publicly before the result was achieved
they knew how to tell whether when they were done, even if all was not perfect

So, here’s your litmus test: how many of the above are a reality in your team?
Comments welcome…