Speed is the name of the game for digital start-ups and, hence, all things agile. Gather a small group of high-performing individuals and let them loose. But is tech debt the only risk? Not even close!

The bigger risk is the burn-out effect of continuous churn. Visiting the same questions over and over again. Tons of meetings to discuss problems where a dozen people weigh in on a problem that's already been decided. Sound familiar?

Let me tell you where it ends up. Continual communication disconnects. Lots of head-butting and loss of interpersonal energy. Exhaustion. Your high-performers burning out quickly. Goal posts moving continuously. Insurmountable barriers to expanded future capabilities. The story is now oh-so-familiar.

And so unnecessary! The solution lies with recognizing that communities of people (of virtually any size) learn differently than individuals. You can actually speed-up community learning by creating a blueprint. Putting stakes in the ground about what is known and decided. Without those stakes, how can you ever really know if you're actually learning or improving anything?

What are those stakes in the ground? Terms and definitions. A concept model. A tech-agnostic structured business vocabulary.

Can you imagine building a house without any blueprint?! Proceeding team-wise according to a basic blueprint doesn't mean all the paint and light fixtures have to be decided up-front. You simply have to be able to collectively 'see' the shape of what you're building.

A blueprint is a fundamental communication tool for building something complex. For a house, it's the basic geography. For a digital product, it's the basic business knowledge.

I'll go so far as to say this: A team of superstars will be less effective and less sustainable than a team of 'regular' professionals working diligently within the context of a concept model. I'll put my money on it.

Great people working overtime for months on end can mask your deep fault lines. Everything works right up until the time it suddenly doesn't. Don't let it happen to you!

Acks Chris Thomson

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