Growing a can-do attitude in your teams

Yesterday, I talked about how to turn around a tech team that became defensive.

When I talk to a CEO or a CPO who wants my help, it’s usually because their tech team is not giving them solutions but excuses.

We are already too busy with features. We don’t have enough people. There’s too much debt.

And so on. The reasons they provide are not the issue at hand.

The issue is the attitude.

When someone from the business side comes up with an initiative, they believe there is a lot of value for the company to grab.

And opportunities don’t wait around forever. You either capture them, or your competition does.

Tick. Tock.

So when someone does the math, comes up with the numbers, and approaches the tech team, they expect the team to be as excited as they are to go for gold.

But usually, it’s not what happens.

The problem is that it’s tough to be competitive when there is so much resistance to every change.

That’s why I think it’s crucial to teach a can-do attitude.

The tech team should be hungry to capture opportunities that create business value.

They should give honest feedback in a non-destructive way.

They should give options.

*We can do it just as you asked in 6 months, or we could cut this, and that and have it shipped in 3, which gives you features A and B, but not C.

What do you want to do?*

This is the level of communication that I want. A can-do attitude that welcomes change and opportunities.

The trick is to be flexible enough to realize your hands are not tied to a deliverable. Features can be dropped, reprioritized, or trimmed.

There’s not just one tool in the toolbox.

And a side bonus, what team is more fun to work on/with? I bet it’s the one with the motto of:

“Bring it on.”

Best regards,

Taj