Whenever I see advice like this, I remember that it is very specific to the environments the author has seen. All of these items are actually measured across a

Whenever I see advice like this, I remember that it is very specific to the environments the author has seen. All of these items are actually measured across a spectrum where you can be too far to either side. The suggestions might help if your current company is like the ones the author is thinking of. Or it might be exactly the wrong thing to do if your company is on the other side of the spectrum. And worst of all: the answer that seems most natural to you is probably the one that is wrong, because your thinking has been shaped by the very culture you're trying to change. Some examples: #1: an open rewards system might help if you have people paid flat salaries that are inadequate. But many companies already base people's compensation too much on individual metrics that don't reflect their real value. In that case, adding a reward system only compounds the problem. In general, the research I have read suggests that for creative jobs like programmers, it's best to pay people a good salary and not have rewards systems that might cause them to value metrics of visibility over doing good work. #4: inefficient collaboration is obviously a problem. But in my experience it's just as often from too much open discussion (bike-shedding) as too little. In some cultures, asking more questions is helpful. In others, defining decision rights and removing room for outside stakeholders to comment is beneficial. #5: negative people obviously aren't good. In some environments, caring more about individuals' happiness is helpful. In others, managers are already too cautious about not upsetting any one person's feelings, and that leads to keeping people around or not helping them improve when they are hurting the team as a whole. #6: not every company is afraid of failure. Some are afraid of success, constantly giving up and trying something new when their current project gets difficult. #7: clear goals seem like a great idea when you're at a company that doesn't know what it's doing. But some companies think they know what they're doing too well. I often see goals that are clear, focused, and absolutely unrelated to what the company really wants. If you know what you really want, report on that and let people find creative ways to achieve it even if they don't mean the "goals" that are supposed to get them there. #8: micromanaging is bad, but non-managing is worse. At many tech companies, former programmers promoted to management are so hands-off they prevent their teams from getting better. #10: don't ever do anything with the goal of making your team 'motivated' to work long hours.