Beautiful Teams

Chapter 16. Better Practices

Steve McConnell

Steve McConnell has influenced both of us for as long as we've been working in software. He was one of the first people either of us read who was able to write about complex software engineering and quality topics in an easy-to-read, conversational tone. More than anyone else, Steve has been a huge influence on our own writing, both in our topics and in the way we choose to express ourselves. In some ways, it's Steve who showed us that it's possible to write a serious book that sounds like you're just talking to someone casually.

Scott Berkun was our other great influence, since if it weren't for him we wouldn't be writing for O'Reilly today. Scott invited Andrew to be a technical reviewer for his first (and excellent) book, Making Things Happen, which is where our relationship with O'Reilly started. (He was an enormously valuable reviewer for our own Applied Software Project Management.) So, when Scott offered to interview Steve for Beautiful Teams, we jumped at the chance to have these two people whose work we admire sit down and talk about teams.

Scott: So, the first thing I want to ask you is does the phrase "a beautiful team" mean anything to you? Is that a phrase you ever used or heard used before, and in relation to software products you've worked on or teams you've been on or managed?

Steve: I tend to be pretty literal, and so the idea of a beautiful team doesn't resonate all that well with me. When I hear "beautiful team" ...