Bill Nicolich (12/18/2012)
One consequence that I'm exploring here a little is that techies themselves can become less-well-rounded and then fail at team-based design and loose voice within the wider business culture.It's Alistair Cockburn that suggests there are three moves in team-based design: invent, decide, communicate.
Techies can get out of whack if they get too narrowly focused on the technical details of invent - hoping that this will solve the various problems associated with a project.
I get what you're saying about having an awareness of other aspects of one's culture besides work-related issues. However, I've seen too many managers who will not yield any decision-making power and who communicate downward yet don't 'listen' upward. This leaves many of us with 'invent' as our only way to contribute to the team goal.
Don't get me wrong, I like team-building exercises (preferably beer and pizza!) and I'd rather work as part of a team. I'm just saying that the team concept can be implemented with varying degrees of success depending on the manager's skill at doing it.
Sigerson
"No pressure, no diamonds." - Thomas Carlyle