Software Development Pearls: Lessons from Fifty Years of Software Experience

Chapter 5

Lessons About Culture and Teamwork

Introduction to Culture and Teamwork

Every organization, company, department, and team has its own culture. In brief, the culture describes “how we do things around here.” A healthy software culture is characterized by a set of common values and technical practices that drive the behaviors and decisions of people in the organization (Wiegers 1996, McMenamin et al. 2021). A healthy culture includes commitments at the individual, project team, and organizational levels to build high-quality products through the sensible application of appropriate processes and practices. If all goes well, the team members have a good time along the way too.

My first book, published in 1996, is titled Creating a Software ...