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I've heard this many times. It isn't clear what it means however. If nearly 100% of problems are "people problems", what are some examples of "people solutions"

I've heard this many times. It isn't clear what it means however. If nearly 100% of problems are "people problems", what are some examples of "people solutions"? That may help clarify.

whstl 1y ago
Keep in mind I said "with a good enough team". "People problems" are problems mainly caused by lack of design consistency, bad communication, unclear vision, micromanagement. A "people solution" would be to, instead of throwing crumbs to the developers, actually have a shared vision that allows the developers/designers/everyone to plan ahead, produce features without fear (causing over-engineering) or lack of care (causing under-engineering). Even if there is no plan other than "go to market ASAP", everyone should be aware of it and everyone should be aware of the consequences of swerving the car 180 degrees at 100km/h. Feedback both ways is important, because if you only have top-down communication, the only feedback will be customer complaints and developers getting burned out.
- Espressosaurus 1y ago
  I would generalize micromanagement to "bad management". I have been empowered to do things but what I was doing was attempting to clean up in software hardware that sucked because it was built in-house instead of using the well-made external part, and on a schedule that didn't permit figuring out how to build the thing right. 100% management-induced problems.
  - whstl 1y ago
    Another issue is when micromanagement gets in the way of transmitting importing information, it becomes more than a nuisance :/
  - ghaff 1y ago
    Building things in house rather than buying something that is close enough is hardly uniquely a management failing.
- osigurdson 1y ago
  Are "people problems" essentially "leadership / vision problems" in your view?
  - whstl 1y ago
    The cause might not be a leader (cross functional teams are rife with such problems), but the leader has the responsibility to deal with it, so I guess it is…
jvanderbot 1y ago
The book mentioned, "Peopleware" is probably your best resource, it's short. But sibling comment is also right on.

I've heard this many times. It isn't clear what it means however. If nearly 100% of problems are "people problems", what are some examples of "people solutions"? That may help clarify.

whstl 1y ago

Keep in mind I said "with a good enough team". "People problems" are problems mainly caused by lack of design consistency, bad communication, unclear vision, micromanagement. A "people solution" would be to, instead of throwing crumbs to the developers, actually have a shared vision that allows the developers/designers/everyone to plan ahead, produce features without fear (causing over-engineering) or lack of care (causing under-engineering). Even if there is no plan other than "go to market ASAP", everyone should be aware of it and everyone should be aware of the consequences of swerving the car 180 degrees at 100km/h. Feedback both ways is important, because if you only have top-down communication, the only feedback will be customer complaints and developers getting burned out.

Espressosaurus 1y ago
I would generalize micromanagement to "bad management". I have been empowered to do things but what I was doing was attempting to clean up in software hardware that sucked because it was built in-house instead of using the well-made external part, and on a schedule that didn't permit figuring out how to build the thing right. 100% management-induced problems.
- whstl 1y ago
  Another issue is when micromanagement gets in the way of transmitting importing information, it becomes more than a nuisance :/
- ghaff 1y ago
  Building things in house rather than buying something that is close enough is hardly uniquely a management failing.
osigurdson 1y ago
Are "people problems" essentially "leadership / vision problems" in your view?
- whstl 1y ago
  The cause might not be a leader (cross functional teams are rife with such problems), but the leader has the responsibility to deal with it, so I guess it is…

jvanderbot 1y ago

The book mentioned, "Peopleware" is probably your best resource, it's short. But sibling comment is also right on.