From soloists to ensemble

Giorgio Sironi - Tech Lead Manager @ eLife

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Tech Lead Manager
Problems I work on
- Finding out the right piece of software to build, then build it
- Give enough challenges to people
- Growing enough basil and parsley

Metaphors

All the brilliant people working on the same thing, at the same time, in the same space, on the same computer. -- Woody Zuill

For an idea to go from someone’s head into the computer, it must go through someone else’s hands. -- Llewellyn Falco

Driver: Hands
Navigators: Heads
Designated Navigator: Voice

A driver and a navigator in a car during a rally

The remoteness of it

Driver

is sharing their screen
has the only keyboard and mouse
uses their favourite IDE, setup, and chair
might not see all faces

(Designated) Navigator

is explicitly collecting group input

A screenshot of our infinite digital whiteboard

The flip side of an infinite visual medium. In an ensemble, whether it's violinists or software developers, there is ironically contention for one communication medium: the single audio channel. In large physical workshops (say Eventstorming) there can be casual side conversations that happen concurrently. This is not possible in a video call unless people are organized with explicit rooms. In the ensembling context, we work a lot on coordination so side conversations are not what we are looking for. We want one conversation, but we need to moderate how to speak. The problem of overlapping voices is exacerbated and experiences vary: due to different latencies, someone might hear overlapping voices where you don't. There's many ways to solve this, for example people explicitly handover to a person that hasn't talked yet: "...and this is what I think of this function. Mark?" I found this experience superior to what we could have achieved going to a meeting room everyday.

The theory

From Scatter-Gather...

Individual people with their individual queues of small tasks

to One-Piece Flow

People with different specialties working together on the same story

One programmer struggling to climb a hill, and sweating

Two programmers helping each other climb the hill

You can still work outside the ensemble

Deliberate learning
Spike branches
Just go for a walk

All the brilliant people working on the same thing, at the same time, in the same space, on the same computer. -- Woody Zuill

Thanks for your attention!