Getting Ahead Can Leave the Team Behind

While the team finishes one piece of work, a few people begin preparing the next. They research the problem. Explore options. Break down the work. It feels sensible. Why take developers away from their keyboards when someone else can prepare the answer? But keeping people busy tells us very little about whether we’re using their judgement well.

Preparation can quietly become prescription. The longer a small group spends with a problem, the more attached it can become to a particular solution. By the time the rest of the team joins, the important choices may already feel settled. There’s a difference between gathering context for a conversation and having the conversation on everyone else’s behalf.

Starting together creates a different opportunity. People notice different things. They question assumptions. Someone spots a constraint that changes the approach. Someone else asks whether the problem needs solving at all.

It takes time. It can be uncomfortable. The discussion rarely follows the agenda as neatly as a presentation of the answer would. That shared discovery is part of the work. It helps the team build understanding, challenge premature decisions and find possibilities that a smaller group might miss.

Research ahead where it makes sense. Bring evidence, constraints and questions. Keep the solution open long enough for the team to shape it.

Listen out for things like, "We want the team to hit the ground running".

Have we given them a useful starting point, or have we decided the destination before they’ve even joined the conversation?