Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast
Let's state a clear distinction between what each developer should focus on individually—and what the team must enable and uphold collectively.
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Now, let's dive into today's micro-topic!
In short
🍽️ Even the most thoughtfully crafted strategies, like adopting Trunk-Based Development (TBD) and Continuous Integration (CI), will fail without the right cultural foundation.
🧭 A successful shift requires both top-down leadership and bottom-up engagement. Leadership must not only endorse these practices but actively challenge teams to adopt them.
💬 Without alignment between leaders and developers, cultural friction will undermine progress. Teams may resist changes to their workflow, feel disconnected from the purpose of the initiative, or even lose motivation.
🌱 To succeed, organizations need to nurture a culture that supports learning, experimentation, and collaboration. That means creating a safe environment for teams to try new approaches, encouraging open communication.
Strategy lose over culture
If you’ve ever tried introducing Trunk-Based Development (TBD) or Continuous Integration (CI) into your team, you’ve likely come across the problems expressed by the phrase: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast."
It’s not just a catchy saying—it reflects a fundamental truth in software development.
Having a solid strategy is essential. However, without the right culture, even the best strategy can face significant resistance. Culture shapes how effectively these practices are adopted and integrated into daily workflows. If the team's culture doesn’t align with these practices, implementation can be met with skepticism and pushback.
Here’s why culture matters:
Top-down Support: Leadership (CTO/CIO) must champion and challenge the engineering team to embrace TBD and CI. Without strong endorsement from leadership, initiatives can falter due to resistance from other departments or conflicting priorities.
Bottom-up Engagement: Developers need to see firsthand the benefits of TBD and CI. When they experience increased productivity and reduced errors through these practices, they become advocates within the team.
Without both top-down leadership and bottom-up enthusiasm, implementing TBD can be challenging. Cultural resistance can lead to frustration among team members and may even cause talented developers to leave.
Culture always trumps strategy. No matter how well-crafted your strategy is, it’s the organizational culture that will ultimately determine its success or failure.
What should you do?
Cultivate a Supportive Environment: Foster an organizational culture where TBD and CI are seen as enablers of productivity and quality.
Encourage Collaboration: Facilitate open communication between leadership and developers to align on goals and expectations.
Promote Experimentation: Create a safe space for teams to experiment, fail, and learn from their experiences.
For TBD and CI to thrive, they must be supported by a culture that values collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement. By aligning strategy with culture, organizations can pave the way for successful implementation and sustainable growth.
Until next time—happy coding! 🤓👩💻👨💻