As we consider the efforts of humans, we see success and failure. We observe projects that go well, and those that do not. Why is this? A complete answer is beyond the scope of this document, and beyond the ability of any one person or group of people to fully understand. There are many aspects of human life including the physical, social, environmental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual -- all powerfully affect and influence people. With our finite time and understanding, we are going to focus on two aspects of human endeavor and how they relate to success:
Scale is the ability to move an endeavor (project) beyond one person. A single person can accomplish very little in this world. Unlike many of the animals, we are helpless on our own. The progress that allows us to live in a comfortable home, drive an automobile, and type on a computer are all the result of countless human efforts -- each building on previous efforts. Even the most notable of humans is a but a tiny blip in the chain of human progress. Yet most people live in a delusional bubble that the world revolves around them. If what we do cannot be used by others, we will likely have contributed very little to the overall human condition beyond subsistence and our own personal wealth which is like a vapor that appears for a moment, and then is gone. The effort and discipline required to scale any effort beyond one person to even a few people is immense. It requires a completely different mindset.
Flow, in the context of human endeavor, is when things proceed along smoothly with continuous contributions and improvements -- like a smoothly running flywheel that is started with great effort, and then gains momentum with each incremental push and never stops. This can be contrasted with endeavors that resembles dragging a large object up a hill. We jerk it along alone with starts and stops until we are exhausted. We leave the object and beg and cajole others to help us. With a group we make rapid progress for awhile, but then all are exhausted and stop. Some leave. There is bickering and politics that some are not pulling their load. We argue if pushing or pulling is better. If we are not careful to brace the object, it may roll back down the hill at times. Which analogy do your projects most resemble and why? The reality is likely somewhere in the middle, but these extremes help us think about the big picture.
The TMPDIR handbook is a collection of observations and best practices. These practices are designed to scale efforts beyond one person and achieve a reasonable state of project flow. Although some practices may be specific to areas the authors have worked in (hardware/software development), much should be generally applicable.
Some specific goals might include:
Process is a tricky thing to get right. Implemented poorly, it adds bureaucracy, friction, and bottlenecks. Process implemented with a reactive mindset limits what people can do and seeks to minimize damage due to a lack lack of integrity and trust.
Process implemented properly decreases friction, automates tedious tasks, and increases transparency. Because there is transparency, there is accountability and trust. Process implemented with a progressive, forward looking mindset enables people to do more. If something needs done, anyone on the team is free to do it. But, because there is a process that records everything that is done, there is also transparency and accountability.
The collaborative mindset works with the intention of enabling others and communicating in an open and transparent fashion. Tools like Git allow all communication (commits, tickets, pull requests) to happen in the open, but people are free to ignore happenings that are not relevant to them. Instead of design discussions happening in emails or meetings, a developer with an idea might modify some documentation, create a pull request (PR) and tag others to ask for review on the ideas. Discussion will follow in the pull request comments. Another person who was not tagged in the PR might notice the PR in log in the Git portal home page, decide it looks interesting, and offer a comment. Other PRs can be easily referenced. We typically think of PRs happening in the context of source code changes, but why can't they be just as effective for documentation and design? However this is a big mindset change to shift away from emails and meetings that we are accustomed to using.
There are two approaches in business -- one is to view opportunities as a fixed pie and try to get the largest slice possible. The other approach is to grow the pie so there is more opportunity for everyone and the slice you have gets larger as well.
Related to the scarcity vs abundance mindset is the distinction between our role in projects and companies. Are we a gatekeeper, or an enabler? A gatekeeper tightly controls who can do his job, thus tends to do things in a closed way. Enablers do things in an open way that enables others to easily contribute. The enabler mindset is not a free-for-all as there can still be reviews, checks, and quality standards. But, there are no barriers to work shifting to whoever has time and interest.