Problem Creep: Stopping Results
Yesterday, I wrote about noticing problem
The team stopping and fixing the problem is the right solution to the “onboarding is too hard problem”. There are trade offs in going with this direction that may make this solution less appealing.
From a leader’s point of view, this is the biggest factor in determining whether to have the team stop and fix the problem.
No matter what, the team has to deliver results.
If stakeholders cannot see the result, is it a result?
In most cases, a leader would not consider fixing the on-boarding experience a result. Having the whole team stop to address the problem and sacrifice any result is a tough sell.
The other side, if a leader can put the team as a stakeholder, that would become a result.
So the trade off is between:
Developer on-boarding time VS Delivering Results
Framing another way:
Internal Improvement [Developer on-boarding time]
VS
External Deliverable [Delivering Results]
As a leader, I would not blame another leader for always choosing the latter.