build the best system we can for this. And that becomes the driving force. And these teams also, for the most part, you find out they're people who are all full-time on the project. They have one job to do and it's to build the system. Things like that started to show up where we had lots of, like I said circumstantial evidence of, kind of profiles of teams that had gotten very successful.
Carol: Now, do you think it has anything to do with the security? I know that Maslow's hierarchy of needs says that if your food, shelter and clothing is taken care of, you can get this self-actualization. Do you think that certain companies kind of breed that, or is it an individual nature that contributed to productive teams. Is it the leadership? What did you see?
Tim: Yeah, I think… Well, in terms of needs. One is, the one thing we found some people, we talked to people who had been on really successful teams. And they always talked about major decisions that were their decisions. Their kind of technical decisions. They always talk in the first person plural - "We decided to do it this way. And then we worked on this. And then we worked on that." And it was clear that, I guess it might be a hackneyed phrase, but they were kind of a self-directed group. They were good problem-solvers. If something came up that was a bit of a surprise to them, they'd put their heads together and figure out what to do. So, one, they had to feel like the decisions were theirs and not following orders. There were no orders to follow here. The goal was to build a successful product. And they also, it was their job not only to build it, but to find the path to success. Rather than being told what to do, day in and day out. So one, they had to feel like they were making decisions, and two, to be honest, you have to feel like you're not going to be second-guessed on every decision. There are so many decisions to make on a project. Some may not work out perfectly, and you've got to feel like you're not going… you're making a call, and if it doesn't work out perfectly, we'll figure out how to deal with that, and you're not going to be unduly criticized. So it becomes a quick decision-making group. They keep a good, high pace going.
Carol: It sounds almost like certain teams just kind of happen by cosmic reality or something. That something just happens and it's kind of a flash, fleeting moment that you're on a project that's great, and then you can't necessarily recreate it. I think some of our listeners may have some experiences they may want to share or that they may want to talk about with us. So I'm just going to provide the toll-free line real quickly. It's 1-866-277-5369. And if you're interested in sharing any of your experiences with software, you're welcome to phone in. I think the other thing that I've noticed, we've talked to a number of people, we've talked to Howard Rubin, we've talked to Frank Mazzucco, about software process improvement and the fact that software is a really tough thing to do. Frank Mazzucco says, he quoted a fellow who said, I think it was Don Canuth, that said that it's the hardest thing a human being will ever do in their lifetime. And we talked a little bit about the requirements. Do you think
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