---
title: "Articles"
url: "https://www.5whys.com/articles.md"
canonical: "https://www.5whys.com/articles"
tags: []
author: "Roy Osherove"
description: "Every 5 Whys article by Roy Osherove on software team leadership, 2009 to 2020, grouped by year."
usage: "Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page)."
license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
---

# Articles

Every 5 Whys article by Roy Osherove on software team leadership, 2009 to 2020, grouped by year.

HTML: https://www.5whys.com/articles · 166 linked entries (each is plain Markdown) · Site index: [llms.txt](https://www.5whys.com/llms.txt)

- [Possible Anti Pattern: A Remote Team Member is Never Ever Visible in Video Chat (Zoom, Teams)](https://www.5whys.com/articles/2020/6/15/possible-anti-pattern-a-remote-team-member-is-never-ever-visible-in-video-chat-zoom-teams.md) (2020-06-15): Why a remote team member who never turns on the camera can signal knowledge hoarding, and small video experiments a team leader can agree on in a 1-1.
- [InfoQ Book Q&A on Elastic Leadership](https://www.5whys.com/articles/2019/5/30/infoq-book-qampa-on-elastic-leadership.md) (2019-05-30): A link to Ben Linders' InfoQ interview about the Elastic Leadership book, with takeaways on survival, learning and self-organizing modes.
- [The Elastic Leadership Model in a picture](https://www.5whys.com/articles/2019/3/22/the-elastic-leadership-model-in-a-picture.md) (2019-03-22): A single diagram by Roy Osherove that shows the whole Elastic Leadership model in one picture, posted to invite reader feedback in the comments.
- [Johanna Rothman Interview - Agile, a Decade Later](https://www.5whys.com/articles/2019/2/16/johanna-rothman-interview-agile-a-decade-later.md) (2019-02-16): A 75-minute audio interview with Johanna Rothman on a decade of agile: flow vs iterations, SAFe and LeSS, product owners, remote teams, plus a transcript.
- [A Critical Chain of Bus Factors](https://www.5whys.com/articles/a-critical-chain-of-bus-factors.md) (2017-02-21): How chains of bus factors form when single experts depend on other single experts, and steps like pairing and shared access that keep work from stalling.
- [Elastic Leadership Book Published](https://www.5whys.com/articles/elastic-leadership-book-published.md) (2017-02-21): A short announcement that the Elastic Leadership book is now officially published by Manning, with a link to the book page.
- [Elastic Leadership Book: The re-publishing of "Notes to a Software Team Leader"](https://www.5whys.com/articles/elastic-leadership-book-the-re-publishing-of-notes-to-a-soft.md) (2015-10-21): Notes to a Software Team Leader is being republished by Manning as Elastic Leadership, with regrouped chapters and a new chapter on bus factors.
- [Team Bus Factors: How to Reduce Them and How to Prevent Them](https://www.5whys.com/articles/team-bus-factors-how-to-reduce-them-and-how-to-prevent-them.md) (2015-10-16): A book chapter on team bus factors: why single experts are a risk and a bottleneck, and how pairing, rotation and apprentices remove them.
- [A Realistic HackerRank Developer Interview Question List](https://www.5whys.com/articles/a-realistic-hackerrank-developer-interview-question-list.md) (2015-07-09): A parody HackerRank-style quiz with realistic questions for tech leads on cross training, code quality, aggressive developers, priorities and creativity.
- [When I Want to Give Up](https://www.5whys.com/articles/when-i-want-to-give-up.md) (2015-06-11): Roy Osherove shares the gumption traps picture he keeps on his office door and how naming his feelings helps him move on when he wants to give up at work.
- [Dangers of Survival Mode](https://www.5whys.com/articles/dangers-of-survival-mode.md) (2014-11-03): Lessons from a LEGO exercise on how leaders react in survival mode, and why deadlines, low quality and team behavior are not givens.
- [Ask Royo #1 - Team Leadership and Influence Edition](https://www.5whys.com/articles/ask-royo-1-team-leadership-and-influence-edition.md) (2014-11-03): The first Ask Royo video on YouTube, answering questions on test first vs test last, survival mode, team size, unit tests and remote code reviews.
- [A Value System for Code Reviews, and How to Scale Them for a Large Project](https://www.5whys.com/articles/a-value-system-for-code-reviews-and-how-to-scale-them-for-a.md) (2014-09-18): How one company replaced slow, tool-based architect code reviews with quick in-person reviews and a learning third reviewer so the process could scale.
- [Scrum Master 2.0: A Scrum Master is Not](https://www.5whys.com/articles/scrum-master-20-a-scrum-master-is-not.md) (2014-07-21): Why a Scrum Master should not be a fixed team leader, tech lead or coach, but a role rotated weekly among team members so nobody becomes a bottleneck.
- [3 Reasons to stop solving other people's problems for them](https://www.5whys.com/articles/3-reasons-to-stop-solving-other-peoples-problems-for-them.md) (2014-05-23): Three reasons team experts should pair with people instead of fixing their problems for them, from reducing the bus factor to gaining free time.
- [Signs you might be in survival mode](https://www.5whys.com/articles/signs-you-might-be-in-survival-mode.md) (2014-03-27): A list of early warning signs that a software team is in survival mode, such as constant urgency, missing context, no time to reduce risk and long stress.
- [Technical Disobedience](https://www.5whys.com/articles/technical-disobedience.md) (2013-11-03): Stories of a monitor brought from home and a whiteboard that replaced TFS show how developers can bend bureaucratic rules to get things done.
- [Definition: Survival Mode](https://www.5whys.com/articles/definition-survival-mode.md) (2013-10-20): A short definition of survival mode, the spiral of fighting fires with no time to learn, and how removing over commitments helps break it.
- [Two Techniques to Avoid the Bus Factor In your Teams: Push and Pull](https://www.5whys.com/articles/two-techniques-to-avoid-the-bus-factor-in-your-teams-push-an.md) (2013-09-06): How push based and pull based learning help a team remove bus factors, told through an architect who fixed a search server without learning anything.
- [What's your Position, Velocity, and Acceleration? by Neal Tibrewala](https://www.5whys.com/articles/whats-your-position-velocity-and-acceleration-by-neal-tibrew.md) (2013-09-05): Guest post by Neal Tibrewala on tracking position, velocity and acceleration of defect counts, and why acceleration best shows whether a team is learning.
- [Audio Book - Notes to a Software Team Leader, Now Available](https://www.5whys.com/articles/audio-book-notes-to-a-software-team-leader-now-available.md) (2013-08-15): The audio book of Notes to a Software Team Leader is out, with four hours of narration in 31 chapters on Gumroad and Audible, plus a sample.
- [Be a Book Reviewer for 'Notes to a Software Team Leader'](https://www.5whys.com/articles/be-a-book-reviewer-for-notes-to-a-software-team-leader.md) (2013-06-20): A call for readers to get a free copy of Notes to a Software Team Leader in return for honest feedback and an Amazon review, via a Google Forms sign-up.
- [Audio: Preface–Notes to a Software Team Leader](https://www.5whys.com/articles/audio-prefacenotes-to-a-software-team-leader.md) (2013-06-18): The audio version of the preface of Notes to a Software Team Leader on SoundCloud, with Roy asking readers how to price and where to sell an audio book.
- [Developing Critical Team Thinking](https://www.5whys.com/articles/developing-critical-team-thinking.md) (2013-02-25): How the effectiveness, novelty and self-direction of critical thinking map onto growing a self-organizing team that keeps experimenting.
- [Elastic Leadership in Devops Survival Mode](https://www.5whys.com/articles/elastic-leadership-in-devops-survival-mode.md) (2013-02-24): A look at a DevOps Guys post in which command and control ended production fires and freed time to learn, read as Elastic Leadership in survival mode.
- [Feeling Stupid is Highly Recommended](https://www.5whys.com/articles/feeling-stupid-is-highly-recommended.md) (2013-02-10): Videos of Roy Osherove's first two days of skiing, used to show that feeling stupid and frustrated is a normal and necessary part of learning a new skill.
- [Two Day Leadership Workshop–London April 11-12](https://www.5whys.com/articles/two-day-leadership-workshopndashlondon-april-11-12.md) (2013-02-03): An announcement of a two-day London workshop in April 2013 for team leaders, architects and managers on influence and growing teams.
- [12 Lessons Learned for a New Team Lead](https://www.5whys.com/articles/12-lessons-learned-for-a-new-team-lead.md) (2013-02-02): Guest post by Oren Ellenbogen with 12 lessons for a new team lead, from writing down daily decisions and handling cynicism to making others shine.
- [Video: The Coaching Architect](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-the-coaching-architect.md) (2013-02-01): A video of Roy Osherove's talk at an Oslo architect meetup on the role of the architect and how to become a coaching architect, with workshop dates.
- [Elastic, Agile, Adaptive Leadership Workshop, January 31 2013, Oslo](https://www.5whys.com/articles/elastic-agile-adaptive-leadership-workshop-january-31-2013-o.md) (2013-01-16): Details of a two-day Oslo workshop for team leaders, architects and Scrum Masters on elastic leadership, from survival to self-organization.
- [Things to consider when building a new team](https://www.5whys.com/articles/things-to-consider-when-building-a-new-team.md) (2012-12-26): What to look for when building a new software team: experts willing to teach, people who enjoy working together, and people with time to learn and grow.
- [Video (Hebrew): On Time, With Quality? Yeah Right.](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-hebrew-on-time-with-quality-yeah-right.md) (2012-09-18): A Hebrew-language video of Roy Osherove's talk to future tech leaders in Israel's military tech units on leadership and delivering on time with quality.
- [Video: Lejla Giske on Listening Modes and Techniques](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-lejla-giske-on-listening-modes-and-techniques.md) (2012-09-14): A video interview with Bouvet consultant Lejla Giske about listening modes and listening techniques, recorded by Roy Osherove in Norway.
- [Consulting and Leadership Courses in Scandinavia](https://www.5whys.com/articles/consulting-and-leadership-courses-in-scandinavia.md) (2012-09-05): Roy Osherove announces his move to Norway, consulting through Bouvet, and a list of 2012 TDD and team leadership courses in Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
- [Elastic Leadership Team Survival Vs. Team Chaos Vs. Cynefin](https://www.5whys.com/articles/elastic-leadership-team-survival-vs-team-chaos-vs-cynefin.md) (2012-07-30): Why the first phase of Elastic Leadership was renamed from chaos to survival to avoid clashing with Cynefin, and how the three team phases are defined.
- [Assume you are wrong](https://www.5whys.com/articles/assume-you-are-wrong.md) (2012-06-21): A tense chat log shows how people tell themselves stories about each other, and how describing facts and assuming good intentions defuses the conflict.
- [Upcoming leadership 1 day courses in sweden](https://www.5whys.com/articles/upcoming-leadership-1-day-courses-in-sweden.md) (2012-06-20): Dates for one-day Essential Skills and Elastic Leadership courses for software team leaders at Foo Cafe in Stockholm and Malmo in November 2012.
- [Submit your story about a team leader you had - good or bad](https://www.5whys.com/articles/submit-your-story-about-a-team-leader-you-had-good-or-bad.md) (2012-06-19): A call for readers to submit a personal story about a good or bad team leader they had, or a lesson they learned, for Roy Osherove's upcoming book.
- [New chapter: "Learning" in the book "From chaos to self organization"](https://www.5whys.com/articles/new-chapter-learning-in-the-book-from-chaos-to-self-organiza.md) (2012-06-19): A new Learning chapter is added to From Chaos to Self Organization on Leanpub, split out of Notes to a Software Team Leader, with a two-book bundle link.
- [Leadership and management talk videos from NDC Oslo](https://www.5whys.com/articles/leadership-and-management-talk-videos-from-ndc-oslo.md) (2012-06-15): Links to NDC Oslo 2012 videos on leadership and agile, including Roy's team leader manifesto talk and sessions by Esther Derby and Dan North.
- [Video: The Team Leader Manifesto, Growing Effective Teams](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-the-team-leader-manifesto-growing-effective-teams.md) (2012-06-15): The page for Roy Osherove's NDC Oslo 2012 talk on the Software Team Leader Manifesto; the embedded video is gone but a Vimeo link remains.
- [Free for Elastic Leadership Training in June/July](https://www.5whys.com/articles/free-for-elastic-leadership-training-in-junejuly.md) (2012-06-12): A short note that Roy Osherove is available in June and July 2012 to bring TDD or Elastic Leadership training to teams before his move to Norway.
- [Team Leader Manifesto - Take #4](https://www.5whys.com/articles/team-leader-manifesto-take-4.md) (2012-06-06): Roy Osherove's Team Leader Manifesto in full: great teams are grown, not hired, by continuously growing people's skills to the point of self-organization.
- [Team Leader Manifesto - Take #3](https://www.5whys.com/articles/team-leader-manifesto-take-3.md) (2012-06-06): The third draft of the team leader manifesto, which defines a leader's success as the team's growth in self-organization and adds slack time to learn.
- [Should you grow even a short-term consultant in your team?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/should-you-grow-even-a-short-term-consultant-in-your-team.md) (2012-05-06): Why a team leader should still grow short-term consultants and temporary team members, treating everyone they lead as if they would stay forever.
- [Elastic Leadership course in Amsterdam - July](https://www.5whys.com/articles/elastic-leadership-course-in-amsterdam-july.md) (2012-05-06): A short announcement of a two-day Elastic Leadership workshop in Amsterdam in July, with a request for a company to host the course for free tickets.
- [On time, with quality - why is this mostly failing?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/on-time-with-quality-why-is-this-mostly-failing.md) (2012-05-06): Why teams fail to ship on time with quality while stuck in chaos, and why team leaders must remove commitments to make time to learn and practice.
- [Middle Management or puppet management?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/middle-management-or-puppet-management.md) (2012-05-06): Why many team leaders act as puppets for upper management, and why a team leader's real job is to make their own decisions and grow the team.
- [If you're looking for a QA to automate your tests, you've started to fail](https://www.5whys.com/articles/if-youre-looking-for-a-qa-to-automate-your-tests-youve-start.md) (2012-05-06): Why hiring a QA person to automate tests keeps a system failing, and steps to grow developers in test automation while the team is in the learning phase.
- [Different ways to view organizational change](https://www.5whys.com/articles/different-ways-to-view-organizational-change.md) (2012-05-04): A link to Don Gray's post comparing models of organizational change and transition, recommended as a set of design patterns for organizational change.
- [Chapter four - commitment language - is online](https://www.5whys.com/articles/chapter-four-commitment-language-is-online.md) (2012-05-02): Chapter four of Notes to a Software Team Leader is out on Leanpub, about commitment language as a first step in the learning stage and integrity thinking.
- [What should a good code review look and feel like?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/what-should-a-good-code-review-look-and-feel-like.md) (2012-05-02): How a good code review should feel: short, in person, side by side, done by everyone on the team, and aimed at learning rather than tool comments.
- [Do new startup leaders need to grow their teams?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/do-new-startup-leaders-need-to-grow-their-teams.md) (2012-05-01): Why early-stage startups are usually in survival mode with no time to grow people or use TDD, and why learning should start once the direction is proven.
- [Grow your "feature teams" into just "teams"](https://www.5whys.com/articles/grow-your-feature-teams-into-just-teams.md) (2012-05-01): Why feature teams built from specialists carry a bad bus factor, and why team leaders should grow them into teams where everyone can do each other's work.
- [You're not self organizing if you have a go-to architect](https://www.5whys.com/articles/youre-not-self-organizing-if-you-have-a-go-to-architect.md) (2012-05-01): A quick test for self-organization: if a team must ask an outside architect to finish its work, it is not self-organizing, and the architect should teach.
- [The architect as a leader, and other specialists](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-architect-as-a-leader-and-other-specialists.md) (2012-05-01): Why an architect or any specialist on a team is a bottleneck, and should act as a coaching leader who spreads knowledge until they are no longer needed.
- [Joining Forces with other leaders to make change happen](https://www.5whys.com/articles/joining-forces-with-other-leaders-to-make-change-happen.md) (2012-03-30): Why team leaders, architects and QA heads should show a united front when pushing a change like unit testing, and keep any skepticism to private talks.
- [Contribute a note to my upcoming book - Notes to a software team leader](https://www.5whys.com/articles/contribute-a-note-to-my-upcoming-book-notes-to-a-software-te.md) (2012-03-04): An invitation to write a note of advice for new software team leaders, to be included in the Leanpub book Notes to a Software Team Leader.
- [Lead Better Bucharest Edition - This Month](https://www.5whys.com/articles/lead-better-bucharest-edition-this-month.md) (2012-03-03): An announcement of the Lead Better leadership course in Bucharest in 2012, based on this blog and Roy's team leader book, with six seats available.
- [New Book: Notes to a software team leader](https://www.5whys.com/articles/new-book-notes-to-a-software-team-leader.md) (2012-02-28): Roy Osherove announces Notes to a Software Team Leader, a Leanpub book mixing this blog's topics with notes from managers, stakeholders and team members.
- [Software Team Leader Manifesto - Take #2](https://www.5whys.com/articles/software-team-leader-manifesto-take-2.md) (2012-02-23): The second draft of the team leader manifesto: adapt leadership style to the team, embrace risk, fear and experimentation, and lead people.
- [Stoos Gathering - Initial Thoughts](https://www.5whys.com/articles/stoos-gathering-initial-thoughts.md) (2012-01-08): Roy Osherove's first thoughts on the Stoos Gathering, where 21 people from many management schools sought common ground to change management culture.
- [How to be an effective code coach](https://www.5whys.com/articles/how-to-be-an-effective-code-coach.md) (2011-12-12): How a technical team leader can coach developers through pair programming, writing less code, asking leading questions and letting them solve problems.
- [You Can't Fire Everyone](https://www.5whys.com/articles/you-cant-fire-everyone.md) (2011-12-09): Why a software team leader who keeps wishing for better developers is doing it wrong, and why growing the team beats getting people out of it.
- [Don't be afraid to become management](https://www.5whys.com/articles/dont-be-afraid-to-become-management.md) (2011-12-08): A short late-night video on YouTube in which Roy Osherove argues that fears about moving into management mostly come true only if you do it wrong.
- [A Manifesto For Software Team Leaders - Take 1](https://www.5whys.com/articles/a-manifesto-for-software-team-leaders-take-1.md) (2011-12-08): The first draft of a manifesto for software team leaders, a list of leadership values open for reader comments, written ahead of the Stoos summit.
- [Stavanger Norway Elastic Leadership Course](https://www.5whys.com/articles/stavanger-norway-elastic-leadership-course.md) (2011-11-29): Announcement of Roy Osherove's two-day Lead Better Elastic Leadership course in Stavanger, Norway, on December 15-16, with a registration link.
- [Ten Things Distributed Team Leaders Should Do](https://www.5whys.com/articles/ten-things-distributed-team-leaders-should-do.md) (2011-10-03): Ten practices for leading a distributed team, from shared Skype chat and honest status to virtual standups, code reviews and direct customer access.
- [Three reasons not to have your own private office](https://www.5whys.com/articles/three-reasons-not-to-have-your-own-private-office.md) (2011-10-02): Why a team leader should sit with the team rather than in a private office, to stay in the loop, lead by example and handle problems early.
- [Technical Anti Patterns Arising from Social Inadequacy](https://www.5whys.com/articles/technical-anti-patterns-arising-from-social-inadequacy.md) (2011-09-19): On Jerry Weinberg's Roundtable on Technical Leadership, listing its chapter five anti-patterns, like not asking for help, that stem from social gaps.
- [Five Questions to ask yourself when getting advice about team leadership](https://www.5whys.com/articles/five-questions-to-ask-yourself-when-getting-advice-about-tea.md) (2011-09-13): Questions for testing any team leadership advice against the three team maturity stages, plus bonus questions about the author's hidden assumptions.
- [Go see, ask why, show respect](https://www.5whys.com/articles/go-see-ask-why-show-respect.md) (2011-09-13): Guest post by Horia Sluşanschi on showing a team respect through Gemba Walks, probing questions and joint problem-solving on the key constraint.
- [Appraisals and Agile Don't Play Nicely](https://www.5whys.com/articles/appraisals-and-agile-dont-play-nicely.md) (2011-09-05): Gary Reynolds argues that individual performance appraisals clash with agile teamwork and self-organizing teams, and suggests continuous feedback instead.
- [Making your team manage their own work](https://www.5whys.com/articles/making-your-team-manage-their-own-work.md) (2011-09-02): Lior Friedman explains how a team leader can stop being the task dispatcher and teach the team to divide its own work using a visible task board.
- [One Day Software Team Leader Skills Class - Lund, Sweden](https://www.5whys.com/articles/one-day-software-team-leader-skills-class-lund-sweden.md) (2011-09-02): Notice of a canceled one-day class in Lund, Sweden, on software team leader skills, including the three maturity phases of a software team.
- [A week in Stockholm - Open for consulting or training](https://www.5whys.com/articles/a-week-in-stockholm-open-for-consulting-or-training.md) (2011-09-01): A short note that Roy Osherove would be in Stockholm on September 12-16, 2011, available for on-site TDD or team leadership training and consulting.
- [Distributed Team Evasion Tactic - Away or Offline](https://www.5whys.com/articles/distributed-team-evasion-tactic-away-or-offline.md) (2011-08-30): Why a distributed team leader who stays set to away or offline on Skype erodes trust, how the team reacts, and how known working hours fix it.
- [Spread your workload](https://www.5whys.com/articles/spread-your-workload.md) (2011-08-27): Guest post by John Hill on why team leads who give boring tasks to their reliable people burn them out, and why rotating such work keeps things fair.
- [Change your mind: your product is your team](https://www.5whys.com/articles/change-your-mind-your-product-is-your-team.md) (2011-08-13): José Ramón Díaz argues that a new team leader or project manager must shift focus from product to team, since the product is only as good as the team.
- [The Chaos Addiction](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-chaos-addiction.md) (2011-08-07): How survival mode becomes a self-reinforcing addiction that cuts quality and learning time, and why a team leader must take a risk to break the cycle.
- [Video: How to manage a person who is always late to a standup meeting](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-how-to-manage-a-person-who-is-always-late-to-a-standup.md) (2011-07-30): A YouTube video answering how to handle a team member who is always late to the daily standup, with a different approach for each team maturity stage.
- [Video: Mistake #1 - Not Understanding Team Maturity](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-mistake-1-not-understanding-team-maturity.md) (2011-07-28): A short video on the first of ten team leader mistakes, failing to recognize the team's maturity stage, plus a note on an Oslo team leader class.
- [Oslo Lead Better Workshop - August 8-9 2011](https://www.5whys.com/articles/oslo-lead-better-workshop-august-8-9-2011.md) (2011-07-24): Details of the two-day Lead Better workshop for software team leaders in Oslo, August 2011, covering Elastic Leadership, team maturity and influence.
- [Video: Ten Mistakes Software Team Leaders Make](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-ten-mistakes-software-team-leaders-make.md) (2011-07-20): Video and slides of a SkillsMatter talk on ten mistakes software team leaders make, from ignoring team maturity to fear of delegation and placating.
- [Video: Team Leadership in the Age of Agile](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-team-leadership-in-the-age-of-agile.md) (2011-07-08): A link to the InfoQ video of Roy Osherove's QCon London 2011 talk on what team leaders need for agile to succeed and how leadership fits team maturity.
- [The Fear Of Failure And What To Do About It](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-fear-of-failure-and-what-to-do-about-it.md) (2011-06-30): Using a Milton Glaser video on the fear of failure, a look at why team leaders must take personal risks and how timed experiments can lower them.
- [Video: The Mistake at the heart of Agile - Michael Feathers, NDC 2011](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-the-mistake-at-the-heart-of-agile-michael-feathers-ndc.md) (2011-06-17): A note about a Michael Feathers NDC 2011 talk on the mistake at the heart of agile, whose video is gone, tied to getting teams out of comfort zones.
- [Burst your team's bubble - stop protecting them from the surrounding organization](https://www.5whys.com/articles/burst-your-teams-bubble-stop-protecting-them-from-the-surrou.md) (2011-06-17): Why, in learning mode, a team leader should stop shielding the team from the organization and let sales, marketing and support push their growth.
- [The Clean Coder](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-clean-coder.md) (2011-06-17): A recommendation of Robert C. Martin's book The Clean Coder, to which Roy Osherove contributed a section on the language of commitment.
- [Yelling at team members](https://www.5whys.com/articles/yelling-at-team-members.md) (2011-06-17): Why yelling at team members destroys trust and solves nothing, and the steps a team leader should take right after losing their temper.
- [London Team Leader Course this July](https://www.5whys.com/articles/london-team-leader-course-this-july.md) (2011-06-17): Announcement of the two-day Lead Better course in London in July 2011, with the common team leader problems it tackles and the full course outline.
- [What to do if some people in the team just don't want to take a task?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/what-to-do-if-some-people-in-the-team-just-dont-want-to-take.md) (2011-06-06): How a Scrum team leader should respond when team members won't pick tasks in sprint planning, with different tactics for each team maturity stage.
- [A good leader won't need to ask](https://www.5whys.com/articles/a-good-leader-wont-need-to-ask.md) (2011-06-06): Why a team leader who has to ask people what they did well this year has not been paying attention, and a quick way to compile and fix that.
- [Video: Elastic Leadership in software - InfoQ interview](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-elastic-leadership-in-software-infoq-interview.md) (2011-04-15): A link to an InfoQ video interview from QCon London 2011 on Elastic Leadership, where the leader moves from dictator to coach as the team matures.
- [12 Behavior Anti Patterns You Will Face As a Software Team Leader](https://www.5whys.com/articles/12-behavior-anti-patterns-you-will-face-as-a-software-team-l.md) (2011-04-11): Twelve team member behavior anti-patterns and three outside disruptions a software team leader faces in survival mode, with how to respond to each one.
- [Lead Better - Skills for software team leads, Course next week in Oslo](https://www.5whys.com/articles/lead-better-skills-for-software-team-leads-course-next-week-1.md) (2011-04-07): A note that the Lead Better course for software team leads runs in Oslo next week, with a few seats left, for new and experienced team leaders.
- [Elastic Leadership](https://www.5whys.com/articles/elastic-leadership.md) (2011-04-04): Roy Osherove defines Elastic Leadership, adapting your leadership style to the team's phase, from chaos to learning to self-leading, and why it is scary.
- [Slides: Team Leadership In the Age of Agile](https://www.5whys.com/articles/slides-team-leadership-in-the-age-of-agile.md) (2011-03-19): Slides from a QCon London 2011 talk on the three maturity stages of a software team and how a team leader adjusts leadership style to each one.
- [What are you going to do about it?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it.md) (2011-02-03): A Lead Better course attendee's email showing how asking a teammate what are you going to do about it, and by when, got a problem solved within hours.
- [3 Quotes about Leadership we should listen to](https://www.5whys.com/articles/3-quotes-about-leadership-we-should-listen-to.md) (2010-07-18): Three leadership quotes shared on Twitter, from Christopher Columbus on courage, Henry Ford on faster horses and Peter Drucker on efficiency.
- [How to annoy your customer with usability problems](https://www.5whys.com/articles/how-to-annoy-your-customer-with-usability-problems.md) (2010-07-03): A short rant listing the usability problems of an unnamed software product, from CD-only installs to updates that reinstall and keys you cannot paste.
- [Choice](https://www.5whys.com/articles/choice.md) (2010-06-23): A one-line post linking to an MP4 recording of a Rob Conery talk at NDC, suggesting that all Microsoft developers should watch it.
- [Scrum vs. Kanban attitudes](https://www.5whys.com/articles/scrum-vs-kanban-attitudes.md) (2010-06-13): A link to a post on how Kanban and Scrum differ in attitude and in how they provoke change, with a note that combining the two can work well.
- [Exclude a team member – and you’re an idiot](https://www.5whys.com/articles/exclude-a-team-member-and-youre-an-idiot.md) (2010-05-25): Why a team leader must never exclude a difficult team member from meetings or lunch, and why firing should come only after months of trying to grow them.
- [Video – Code Leaders and Beautiful Teams](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-ndash-code-leaders-and-beautiful-teams.md) (2010-05-24): A post about a QCon London 2010 talk on code leaders and beautiful teams, focused on the chaotic first stage, with a link to the InfoQ recording.
- [Leadership and the mature team](https://www.5whys.com/articles/leadership-and-the-mature-team.md) (2010-05-18): Mike Burrows responds to the three maturity stages, arguing self-organization goes beyond self-management and mature teams still need leadership.
- [The 3 maturity stages of a software team and how scrum fails to identify them](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-3-maturity-stages-of-a-software-team-and-how-scrum-fails.md) (2010-05-17): The chaotic, mid-life and mature stages of a software team, the leadership each one needs, from dictator to coach, and why Scrum Masters miss them.
- [The Bus Factor - Why your ‘best’ developer is your biggest problem](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-bus-factor-why-your-best-developer-is-your-biggest-probl.md) (2010-05-17): How to spot a bus factor of one in your team and reduce it with standups, pairing, code reviews and knowledge sharing, including the team leader as one.
- [My team keeps breaking their promises. What can I do?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/my-team-keeps-breaking-their-promises-what-can-i-do.md) (2010-05-09): How a team leader can teach a team the language of commitment, spotting words like I'll try, setting end dates and flagging slips before deadlines pass.
- [Kevlin Henney – 3 things every programmer should know](https://www.5whys.com/articles/kevlin-henney-ndash-3-things-every-programmer-should-know.md) (2010-05-08): A 20-minute audio interview recorded at ACCU 2010 in which Kevlin Henney, editor of 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know, names three essentials.
- [Interview: Patrick Kua : Agile Coach](https://www.5whys.com/articles/interview-patrick-kua-agile-coach.md) (2010-04-21): A 29-minute audio interview with agile coach Patrick Kua on types of tests, the definition of done and team leader versus team manager.
- [Interview: James Bach – The role of the tester](https://www.5whys.com/articles/interview-james-bach-the-role-of-the-tester.md) (2010-04-19): A 75-minute audio interview with James Bach from ACCU 2010 on the role of the tester, exploratory testing, interviewing testers and sapient testing.
- [Move-Around kata for team leaders](https://www.5whys.com/articles/move-around-kata-for-team-leaders.md) (2010-02-14): A daily kata for software team leaders in which you walk around, see each teammate's current work and challenge them to find a better solution.
- [my worst team leaders](https://www.5whys.com/articles/my-worst-team-leaders.md) (2010-02-14): A short list of traits shared by the worst team leaders Roy Osherove worked for, from never coaching or challenging him to ignoring impediments.
- [Confessions of a First Time Manager](https://www.5whys.com/articles/confessions-of-a-first-time-manager.md) (2009-12-14): A link to Tim Barcz's post on devlicio.us, in which a newly appointed manager of a large group of people shares his advice for first-time managers.
- [Creating Team Trust](https://www.5whys.com/articles/creating-team-trust.md) (2009-12-13): Johanna Rothman explains how a team lead builds team trust, starting with yourself: deliver what you promise, stay consistent, and negotiate.
- [How to plan and influence change at your company](https://www.5whys.com/articles/how-to-plan-and-influence-change-at-your-company.md) (2009-12-10): How the six sources of influence from the book Influencer explain why change efforts like adopting TDD fail, and how to find the vital behaviors to change.
- [Why XP’s influence is more effective than Scrum](https://www.5whys.com/articles/why-xps-influence-is-more-effective-than-scrum.md) (2009-12-09): Why XP practices like TDD, pair programming and continuous integration change team behavior better than Scrum alone, seen through six forces of influence.
- [The Five Dysfunctions of a Team](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team.md) (2009-12-08): A summary of Lencioni's five dysfunctions of a team, from absence of trust and fear of conflict to inattention to results, a must-read for team leaders.
- [Other blogs on management and leadership](https://www.5whys.com/articles/other-blogs-on-management-and-leadership.md) (2009-12-01): A short list of recommended blogs and podcasts on software management and leadership, including Rands in Repose, Noop, Scott Berkun and Manager Tools.
- [How to influence others](https://www.5whys.com/articles/how-to-influence-others.md) (2009-11-30): Two books for team leaders who want to drive change: How to Win Friends and Influence People for one-on-one influence, and Influencer for the macro level.
- [How to deal with bad decisions made by the team](https://www.5whys.com/articles/how-to-deal-with-bad-decisions-made-by-the-team.md) (2009-11-16): How a team lead can steer a self-directing team away from bad technical decisions by asking hard questions, based on Mike Cohn's Succeeding with Agile.
- [Be more approachable in five minutes](https://www.5whys.com/articles/be-more-approachable-in-five-minutes.md) (2009-10-28): Links on being a more approachable manager and the Daily Five Minutes habit of giving at least one employee five minutes of no-agenda time each day.
- [Video - Pair Programming with a Guitar](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-pair-programming-with-a-guitar.md) (2009-10-27): A short post sharing a video, found via Naresh Jain, of pair programming on a guitar to inspire pairing skeptics. The video is no longer available.
- [Dev Anti Pattern: Unworkable Machine](https://www.5whys.com/articles/dev-anti-pattern-unworkable-machine.md) (2009-10-24): The developer whose machine is always broken: common phrases, causes such as boredom or bug recreation, and fixes like using a virtual machine.
- [Do Not Fear Confrontation](https://www.5whys.com/articles/do-not-fear-confrontation.md) (2009-10-24): A short video in which Roy Osherove urges software team leads not to be afraid of confrontation, with a link to watch it on YouTube.
- [Check-in: sharing emotions in an effective way](https://www.5whys.com/articles/check-in-sharing-emotions-in-an-effective-way.md) (2009-10-23): Yves Hanoulle explains the Check-In protocol from The Core Protocols, using mad, glad, sad and afraid to share emotions at work and at home.
- [The hidden leadership lessons we can learn from music conductors](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-hidden-leadership-lessons-we-can-learn-from-music-conduc.md) (2009-10-21): Lessons for software team leaders from Itay Talgam's TED talk on great conductors: self-direction, letting people grow and control without control.
- [A Possible Job Description: Team Leader](https://www.5whys.com/articles/a-possible-job-description-team-leader.md) (2009-10-16): Kevin Stevens drafts an honest job description for a software team leader: mentor juniors, choose tools wisely, ship with integrity and care for the code.
- [Video: Influence Strategies](https://www.5whys.com/articles/video-influence-strategies.md) (2009-10-16): A pointer to Richard Banks' video on influence strategies based on Linda Rising's work, and why team leads must influence others. It is no longer hosted.
- [The Core Protocols Introduction](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-core-protocols-introduction.md) (2009-10-16): Yves Hanoulle introduces The Core Protocols, team rules Jim and Michele McCarthy distilled from their team-building workshops, and invites you to try them.
- [Leadership Conference coming up](https://www.5whys.com/articles/leadership-conference-coming-up.md) (2009-10-16): Roy Osherove announces plans for a team leadership conference, likely in the UK in late January, and asks readers to vote on a name for it in a poll.
- [How to squeeze a decision out of a sleepy meeting](https://www.5whys.com/articles/how-to-squeeze-a-decision-out-of-a-sleepy-meeting.md) (2009-10-15): A link to Yves Hanoulle's short post on a simple protocol for squeezing a decision out of long, tired meetings that never seem to reach one.
- [A simple way to know you're missing some leadership skills](https://www.5whys.com/articles/a-simple-way-to-know-youre-missing-some-leadership-skills.md) (2009-10-15): Why a team lead who can't get the team to follow even simple practices is likely missing people and leadership skills, not technical knowledge.
- [How to measure programmer productivity using TDD Katas](https://www.5whys.com/articles/how-to-measure-programmer-productivity-using-tdd-katas.md) (2009-09-30): How repeating a TDD kata daily builds muscle memory, and how timing it measures programmer productivity and mastery of shortcuts, snippets and tools.
- [Leading Through Learning: The Responsibilities of a Team Leader](https://www.5whys.com/articles/leading-through-learning-the-responsibilities-of-a-team-lead.md) (2009-09-30): Cory Foy argues that the core responsibility of a team leader is growing people, creating learning opportunities with the team as a safety net.
- [A bunch of (old) audio interviews on management and agile methodologies](https://www.5whys.com/articles/a-bunch-of-old-audio-interviews-on-management-and-agile-meth.md) (2009-09-29): A collection of older audio interviews by Roy Osherove with Johanna Rothman, Kent Beck, Juval Lowy, Charlie Poole and others on management, agile and TDD.
- [Be Productive and Go Mouseless](https://www.5whys.com/articles/be-productive-and-go-mouseless.md) (2009-09-25): A short video on YouTube about being a more productive developer by going mouseless and working from the keyboard. A companion to the Stop Using XML video.
- [Be Productive and Stop Using XML](https://www.5whys.com/articles/be-productive-and-stop-using-xml.md) (2009-09-25): A short video, hosted on YouTube, on being a more productive developer by no longer using XML. A companion to the Go Mouseless video posted the same day.
- [Why managing a software team can be more effective than "regular" management](https://www.5whys.com/articles/why-managing-a-software-team-can-be-more-effective-than-regu.md) (2009-09-24): Roy Osherove argues that leading a software team differs from regular management because automating builds, tests and deployments removes fake barriers.
- [Manifesto for Continuous Improvement](https://www.5whys.com/articles/manifesto-for-continuous-improvement.md) (2009-09-24): A photo shared by Andrew of 21apps, plus a one-line take on continuous improvement: when asked whether you are happy with things, the answer is always no.
- [Growing developers: Ask for solutions instead of giving them](https://www.5whys.com/articles/growing-developers-ask-for-solutions-instead-of-giving-them.md) (2009-09-18): Why a team leader should ask developers for three possible solutions instead of handing out answers, and what to do when they can't decide or lack skills.
- [5 ways to grow great developers instead of desperately looking for them](https://www.5whys.com/articles/5-ways-to-grow-great-developers-instead-of-desperately-looki.md) (2009-09-16): Five ways a software team leader can grow existing developers instead of hunting for super developers, from homework and comfort zones to code reviews.
- [Announcing the Team Leadership Google Group](https://www.5whys.com/articles/announcing-the-team-leadership-google-group.md) (2009-09-16): Roy Osherove announces the leading-teams Google Group, a place for open discussion of software team leadership and the people skills agile adoption needs.
- [9 Articles from Joel On software for Tech Leads](https://www.5whys.com/articles/9-articles-from-joel-on-software-for-tech-leads.md) (2009-09-15): Nine Joel on Software articles for tech leads, on task switching, three management methods and evidence based scheduling, and why Joel is worth reading.
- [IDCC talk: Beautiful teams and code leaders is online](https://www.5whys.com/articles/idcc-talk-beautiful-teams-and-code-leaders-is-online.md) (2009-09-15): A link to the Hebrew video of Roy Osherove's IDCC conference talk on beautiful teams and code leaders, plus his questions every team lead should ask.
- [Poll: Would you join a team leadership forum on this site?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/poll-would-you-join-a-team-leadership-forum-on-this-site.md) (2009-09-15): A quick poll asking readers whether they would join a team leadership forum on 5whys.com, and asking those who would not to explain why in the comments.
- [How to say NO by saying YES](https://www.5whys.com/articles/how-to-say-no-by-saying-yes-1.md) (2009-09-14): How a visual task board lets a team say no to a manager's urgent request by showing its real cost, letting the manager reprioritize the work themselves.
- [Document Your Air, Food, and Water](https://www.5whys.com/articles/document-your-air-food-and-water.md) (2009-09-14): Travis Illig on documenting a team's air, food and water: a lightweight team FAQ on source control, builds and tools that helps new members get going.
- [Immediate and delayed satisfaction in software development](https://www.5whys.com/articles/immediate-and-delayed-satisfaction-in-software-development.md) (2009-09-10): Why software teams should not accept slow builds and manual work, and how leads who can't stand delayed satisfaction push for automation and fast releases.
- [The three stages of learning team leadership](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-three-stages-of-learning-team-leadership.md) (2009-09-10): How Shu-Ha-Ri applies to learning team leadership and TDD: start with practices, then learn the principles, and earn the values over time.
- [One-Liners a new team lead should and shouldn't read](https://www.5whys.com/articles/one-liners-a-new-team-lead-should-and-shouldnt-read.md) (2009-09-10): Roy Osherove's favorite and least favorite lines from Alistair Cockburn's advice to a new team lead, and why being the abstraction layer only goes so far.
- [Generating Internal vs. commercial value](https://www.5whys.com/articles/generating-internal-vs-commercial-value.md) (2009-09-10): On Alistair Cockburn's internal versus commercial value in lean development, and why refactoring, faster builds and teaching people have internal value.
- [Spend at least 50% of your time with your team](https://www.5whys.com/articles/spend-at-least-50-of-your-time-with-your-team.md) (2009-09-10): Why a team lead should block 50% of each day as team time, and how to use the Five Whys and assertiveness to cut down on meetings that add no value.
- [Is face to face pairing better?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/is-face-to-face-pairing-better.md) (2009-09-09): A look at face to face screen pairing, with Brian Marick's reasons it beats side by side pair programming and Roy Osherove's doubts about the style.
- [Step #4 - Start doing code reviews – Seriously](https://www.5whys.com/articles/step-4-start-doing-code-reviews-seriously.md) (2009-09-08): A team leader's guide to serious code reviews: what to look for, reviewing every check-in yourself at first, then training the team to review its own code.
- [How to find hidden problems in your project before it’s too late](https://www.5whys.com/articles/how-to-find-hidden-problems-in-your-project-before-its-too-l.md) (2009-09-08): A pre-mortem technique for new team leads: ask the team and stakeholders to imagine the project has failed and explain why, surfacing hidden risks early.
- [Making Impossible Decisions Without Panicking](https://www.5whys.com/articles/making-impossible-decisions-without-panicking.md) (2009-09-07): How a team leader can make a decision with only bad options without panicking: involve the team, weigh the risks, then run a blame-free review afterward.
- [Daily Standup Meetings - Introduction and 5 useful tips](https://www.5whys.com/articles/daily-standup-meetings-introduction-and-5-useful-tips.md) (2009-09-06): How to run a daily standup meeting with the three questions, why each question matters, and five hard-learned tips for keeping it under 15 minutes.
- [4 ways to discover a stuck team member, and what you can do about it](https://www.5whys.com/articles/4-ways-to-discover-a-stuck-team-member-and-what-you-can-do-a.md) (2009-09-06): Roy Osherove recalls being fired as a stuck developer and shows how standups, code reviews, test reviews and pairing help a lead spot and unblock people.
- [If you don’t own your team, Someone else will](https://www.5whys.com/articles/if-you-dont-own-your-team-someone-else-will.md) (2009-09-06): Why a software team leader must take ownership of the team's boundaries and shield it from outside interference before the team can become self-directing.
- [Call for content – what do new team leads need to know on the first day?](https://www.5whys.com/articles/call-for-content-ndash-what-do-new-team-leads-to-know-on-the.md) (2009-09-05): A call for reader input on what new software team leads need to know on day one, including tips, essential topics and lessons not covered in any book.
- [Don’t despair in the face of nitpickers](https://www.5whys.com/articles/donrsquot-despair-in-the-face-of-nitpickers.md) (2009-09-05): Advice for team leaders driving change: avoid confrontation with nitpickers, note what they say for later, and stay focused on the task as a doer.
- [Step #2 – Use a big visible board with post it notes](https://www.5whys.com/articles/step-2-use-a-big-visible-board-with-post-it-notes.md) (2009-09-05): How a team lead can use a big visible whiteboard with sticky notes to track tasks, expose developers juggling several tasks, and show management the load.
- [The first five Whys](https://www.5whys.com/articles/the-first-five-whys.md) (2009-09-05): Roy Osherove applies the Five Whys to explain why he started this blog: most software team leads lack the people skills to drive and grow their teams.
- [Step #1 – Claim Your Territory, Own your team](https://www.5whys.com/articles/step-1-claim-your-territory-own-your-team.md) (2009-09-05): Why a dev lead must claim the team's territory: keep implementation decisions inside the team, be its single entry point, and ask why outsiders interfere.


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## About the author

**Roy Osherove**: Senior Solutions Architect at AWS working on AI for production and AI-driven development; author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership, with about 20 years of consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery.

### Sites

- [RobotPaper](https://robotpaper.ai/): This blog: AI patterns and anti-patterns, AI and coding agents, and engineering leadership.
- [osherove.com](https://osherove.com): Roy's personal site. Author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership; consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery, plus about 20 years of blog posts.
- [The Art of Unit Testing](https://www.artofunittesting.com): The Art of Unit Testing, 3rd Edition (Manning): readable, maintainable, trustworthy unit tests, plus TDD workshops in C#, JavaScript, Java and Kotlin.
- [5whys.com](https://www.5whys.com): Roy's writing on software team leadership: self-organizing teams, surviving chaos, learning mode and the Elastic Leadership model.
- [Pipeline Driven](https://pipelinedriven.org): Continuous delivery and DevOps practices: build patterns, pipeline-friendly testing, DevOps metrics and enterprise DevOps.
- [Elastic Leadership](https://www.elasticleadership.com): Elastic Leadership, Roy's framework for software team leaders (survival, learning and self-organizing modes).

### Social

- X: https://x.com/royosherove
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osherove/

### Contact

- Contact form: https://forms.gle/jQSx5KoXvrVA1JCK7

### License

Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page). License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/