Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies: Understanding Patterns of Project Behavior

70. Brownie in Motion

Team members are added to the project before its vision is properly formed.

In the early days of a new project, its leaders are under pressure to accomplish two things: define what the project will deliver, and make visible progress quickly.

The urge to gain momentum leads many managers to equate population with progress. They begin staffing the team before it is really clear what the new members should be doing. Naturally enough, the new recruits are largely uncoordinated. The result of having too many people with too little direction is random activity, or movement in haphazard directions, rather like the movement of pollen ...