Highly Productive Teams and their Speed Bumps
In Civilisation , the fantastic BBC series from the 60's, Kenneth Clark is puzzled by the short burst of time in which cathedrals, spiritual movements and art styles are created. For a couple of decades (which sounds long by our standards), there seem to be surges in productivity, creativity and energy in almost the entire population. More was accomplished in these bursts than in the centuries of relative inactivity before or after. In my experience, product development is very comparable . When looking back at some of the most important software projects in which I've played a part, there were bursts of just a couple of days where we were incredibly productive. We were energized, worked as one and were in a state of flow most of the time. The best part is this: although the experiences are very intense, they don't leave you very tired. Instead, afterwards you feel energized and you realize that you just did your best work! As a CTO, I would love my team to work like th