Debugging Teams

Appendix A. Epilogue

By now it should be pretty clear that most of the advice in our book isn’t necessarily specific to product development.

Our stories are essentially about the art of maintaining a healthy, functional community—any community. You could take our anecdotes, remove the parts specific to product development, and substitute any other sort of activity. We could be talking about a neighborhood club, a church group, a fraternity, or a construction team; the same social problems exist and the same solutions are applicable. Humans are unpredictable and tricky to deal with no matter what the context. Product development has the same community-health issues as any other group endeavor.

So, while you’re out there busily incorporating HRT into your daily work life, keep in mind that it applies to the rest of your life as well.

Who knows? It’s possible that our real calling may be in writing church sermons. But for now we’ll stick to writing software and getting the most out of collaboration. And now you have the power to do that, too.

A Final Thought

We’ve covered an awful lot of topics in this book. After you close the cover it may be hard to figure out which parts to embrace in your daily life. After all, what’s the point of reading a book like this if it doesn’t result in some changes in the way you work? What happens now?

Let’s keep things simple. If you remember anything at all about our stories, remember HRT: humility, respect, and trust.

As we explained in the first ...