Dealing with Solo stars
OK, we've all seen divas in IT.
So let's assume you got a newly formed team and there's 3 guys working really hard to chunk up some basic domain expertise and deliver some value.
Then the CEO decides, without asking the team, to add one diva (with superior domain knowledge) to the team who neither participates in plannings nor standups, who prefers not to share any information unless explicitly asked and refuses to use collaboration tools like Jira, git or Jenkins.
Of course, the diva doesn't feel responsible to anyone and would rather tell the CEO that these guys are all idiots than to integrate and blend with the team.
What would you do?
So let's assume you got a newly formed team and there's 3 guys working really hard to chunk up some basic domain expertise and deliver some value.
Then the CEO decides, without asking the team, to add one diva (with superior domain knowledge) to the team who neither participates in plannings nor standups, who prefers not to share any information unless explicitly asked and refuses to use collaboration tools like Jira, git or Jenkins.
Of course, the diva doesn't feel responsible to anyone and would rather tell the CEO that these guys are all idiots than to integrate and blend with the team.
What would you do?
And I especially agreed with what Thad Scheer said and would like to share here for future references:
This is my comments.
Sr Software Architect / Sr Principal Software Engineer at CA Technologies@Michael I think you oversimplified what happened between the Diva and the team. How about asking the Diva the following questions:
1. Do you want to work in this team? If no, why?
2. Did you tried to work with the team? If yes, how? If no, why?
3. What would be the best way to work with this team to his own opinion?
Other than these general questions, you can also ask some more specific questions. For example:
*. What is the reason that prevents you from using the collaboration tools? Ask him one by one. Do you have any other recommendations for the tools?
Admittedly, some people are more team oriented, and some are not. But as long as they want to help the team, you can find a way to make it work. More importantly, the Diva is a real expert with superior domain knowledge, that's what matters.
In fact, the Agile framework, IMHO, was designed to help fit those Diva into the team better.
The OP says "3 guys working really hard", that's different than "3 guys totally slaying the dragon". Maybe these guys are working hard but going nowhere fast? Maybe they aren't actually working hard relative to the CEO's work ethic? Maybe the bar within the organization has gotten lower over the years? Perhaps it's time to bring in a pro who knows what to do next, puts boot to ass, and gets stuff done?
This person will make the locals look bad by comparison and will ruffle feathers. She doesn't attend their feel-good happy meetings and doesn't play their silly Agile games. She's laser beam focused on putting points on the board by developing software. The message is "don't step up if you can't keep up".
The CEO is delighted with her performance because now the important things are finally getting done, things that matter to corporate strategy.
In the end, the 3 guys are in the wind and the solo star will hire her own team comprised of people cherry picked by her to get things done. Arising out of the ashes is a new team harmony, not the old one built around feel-good happy meetings but a new one built around strong individual contributors, effective professional relationships, and a focused team-level dedication on execution.
Is that so bad?
Maybe she's not a diva, maybe she's Wonder Woman?