“OK. I get the theory. But say I was to wander into a company that was more product and design oriented, agile-lean-design-thinking-or-whatever, with teams working in this different way...
...what would I actually see and hear? What’s different?”
...you might stumble on a designer and developer pairing, working in real-time, maybe jumping quickly on a call/Zoom to test something
...you’ll see more conversations, more visible problem solving, more collaboration
...you’ll hear more CHOICE and more decisions. Less seems decided upfront. People are actively figuring things out.
...you’ll see more visible celebration about real things happening with the product.
So if listening, the conversations sound smoother.
Hard to describe, but language is less directive and more curious (and action oriented).
Less: “We need more accountability!”
More: “How can I help?” Or “Let’s chat about what hats we want to wear here...”
...you’ll hear less distrust (and flat out antagonism). Less “Ugh... tech is dropping the ball again” & “Oh, those salespeople are idiots!” More...”thank you for building such a great product that makes selling easier” & “I appreciate their feedback!”
...you’d overhear people talking about systems and dynamics (“sounds like Joe wasn’t set up for success and we should probably try to help that group”), and less “Joe sucks at his job”.
This sounds vague, but anyone who has struggled with a friend who wants to make all the plans (more like needs to) will understand.
This is a gut level sensation.
Related to flow. But have you ever been on a team that for months was saying “yeah, going OK”, but it didn’t feel that way?
Or the friend talking about organizing their garage for 6 months?