Sublime

Staff Level Early overstaffing tends to force projects into shortcutting the key design activity (to give all those people something to do). When work is divided over a large staff prior to completion of design, the interfaces among people and among work groups are not minimized. This leads to increased interdependence, meeting time, rework, and fr

Procedure projects usually involve the highest proportion of junior time relative to senior time (and hence imply a…

Some highlights have been hidden or truncated due to export limits.

Consider what will happen if a firm brings in a mix of client work such that its “proper” staffing requirements would be for a slightly higher mix of juniors, and a lesser mix of seniors than it has (i.e., the work is…

Some highlights have been hidden or truncated due to export limits.

Buurtzorg teams have incredible latitude to come up with their own solutions. Very little is mandated from the top. There are only a few ground rules that experience has shown are important so as to make self-management work in practice. The list of ground rules includes: A team should not grow larger than 12 persons. Beyond that number, it should

Pit

Even though they have not taken centuries to build, most programming systems reflect conceptual disunity far worse than that of cathedrals. Usually this arises not from a serial succession of master designers, but from the separation of design into many tasks done by many men. I will contend that conceptual integrity is the most important considera

First, break the plane’s design into essential units and make a separate production layout for each unit. Next, build as many units as are required, then deliver each unit in its proper sequence to the assembly line to make one whole unit—a finished plane.

Chapter 3. The Surgical Team