When Letting go Control Meant React Taking Over: A lesson on Agile and Development
Alan Kay, that genius in Objected-Oriented-Programming once said that "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." That is genius, but what happens when you are in a team and need to tone down to allow other team members to express themselves? I got my answer when in one of my recent project's sprints, I choose to let someone else take the lead on a major REACT project that I was more equipped to lead. The team was under pressure due to tight timelines and the need for everyone to contribute, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to step back and give another team member some room to lead the project. After all, collaboration is key, right? Well, let's say that the river finally broke its banks and the project failed. While I was busy handling other engagements since I had completed my assigned part, someone else was busy altering everyone's code to align to their needs and the leader did not notice the issue until it was too late. By the time we did an emergency meeting, it was a maze of merge conflicts and a tangled state management that was everything but agile. Despite having made a plan before the project started, we had a rough landing that made us rethink our 'pre-flight' checklist because all we had was a chunk of spaghetti code. Project Management take aways? Trust is significant in development, but so is remaining consistently involved. Agile development principles emphasize on adaptability and the ability to iterate, but that should never be interpreted as checking out and trusting that you can adapt at any level of development. Collaborative decision-making, constructive feedback, and communication are key in enabling successful projects. If you know that you are efficient in one aspect of the project, it is important to remain present throughout the project's life cycle, even if it means coordinating with the project lead in monitoring assigned tasks. Recall Alan Kay's words? Often, stepping back can be great for collaboration, but ensure you are always inventing the future by directing the plane to a safe landing - because a code has a way of serving you some mashed spaghetti.
Alan Kay, that genius in Objected-Oriented-Programming once said that "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." That is genius, but what happens when you are in a team and need to tone down to allow other team members to express themselves? I got my answer when in one of my recent project's sprints, I choose to let someone else take the lead on a major REACT project that I was more equipped to lead. The team was under pressure due to tight timelines and the need for everyone to contribute, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to step back and give another team member some room to lead the project. After all, collaboration is key, right?
Well, let's say that the river finally broke its banks and the project failed.
While I was busy handling other engagements since I had completed my assigned part, someone else was busy altering everyone's code to align to their needs and the leader did not notice the issue until it was too late. By the time we did an emergency meeting, it was a maze of merge conflicts and a tangled state management that was everything but agile. Despite having made a plan before the project started, we had a rough landing that made us rethink our 'pre-flight' checklist because all we had was a chunk of spaghetti code.
Project Management take aways? Trust is significant in development, but so is remaining consistently involved. Agile development principles emphasize on adaptability and the ability to iterate, but that should never be interpreted as checking out and trusting that you can adapt at any level of development. Collaborative decision-making, constructive feedback, and communication are key in enabling successful projects. If you know that you are efficient in one aspect of the project, it is important to remain present throughout the project's life cycle, even if it means coordinating with the project lead in monitoring assigned tasks.
Recall Alan Kay's words?
Often, stepping back can be great for collaboration, but ensure you are always inventing the future by directing the plane to a safe landing - because a code has a way of serving you some mashed spaghetti.
