Lead With Business/Customer Value, Not Your Technical Skills

A common problem with underperforming teams is that while the individuals that form the team have high technical skills, the outcomes they achieve together are poor.

Understand that great work is not about having the best CI/CD pipelines, the most secure infrastructure, beautifully designed roadmaps, or super fancy mockups.

Ultimately, If it doesn't come together to solve a problem for the business or the customer, it's all a waste of time.

Before you jump into a problem with your technical hat on, put your business value hat on first.

This allows you to develop a common language to discuss problems with people from all skills and backgrounds.

It doesn't mean you cut corners of your technical discipline. It just means before we get to that part, a common language exists, and the team understands why they're solving a problem and if they should be solving it at all.

If you've ever sat through discussions where people are not communicating in a way the whole group understands or missing the broader impacts on the business, you'll know what I'm talking about.

A culture that first focuses on outcomes where skilled team members contribute their technical skills second will deliver a lot more value over time.