Michele Sollecito teaches us how to create high-performing teams

"In software, the fundamental question is definitely a billion-dollar question, probably way more: is software a linear activity that you can decompose or is it something complex that you will perform very poorly if you try to attack it with a group of people as opposed to a team?

Well, I think that by definition is a very complex activity. And the reason why is that not only are people involved, but you're trying to create another system, which is a software system" - Michele Sollecito

You can't build better software products without system thinking.

Teams are systems, as well as software products. Everything can be seen as a system if you look hard enough.

In this new episode of the Invisible Algorithms Podcast, Michele Sollecito brings his unique perspective on how system thinking can help organizations create high-performing teams that can deliver better outcomes in their day-to-day work.

In this episode, Michele will share with us some great insights on:

- The Limitations of Traditional Team Structures
- The Importance of Collaboration in Complex Problems
- The Flaws of the tech lead role and the actual role of management
- The Benefits of Ensemble Programming
- An anticipation of the book he’s writing

I hope you’ll get the best out of this episode as much as I did.

Before getting into it, if you like this episode, please remember to share the episode with your network, like it on YT, and review it on Spotify.

Enjoy!

00:00 Introduction and background

06:11 Can software development be standardized?

09:00 What is a team?

09:41 The current hiring system is broken

11:40 The team is a system

12:24 The strengths and limitations of different team models

16:32 The emergent properties of systems

19:52 Remote working

21:36 Why are teams not working as teams?

25:21 A story of transformation

30:23 The benefits of ensemble programming

33:24 Why can having a tech lead be a bad idea?

37:02 Management is about how the work works, not the work itself

40:43 Is ensemble programming waste?

46:13 Why is difficult to sell change to management (belief system)

55:11 Michele's book

References:

- Elastic Leadership, Growing self-organizing teams: https://www.manning.com/books/elastic-leadership

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Michele's Bio:

A versatile background spanning startups to industry giants across banking, fintech, gaming, and more. Michele excels in building efficient teams and departments through system thinking, Theory-Y management, and agile practices. With experience managing over 250 people and expertise in software architecture, cloud-native services, and continuous delivery, Michele’s approach fosters semi-autonomous, cross-functional teams that thrive on fast feedback and continuous improvement. Beyond work, Michele is passionate about self-improvement, enjoying gym sessions, gastronomy, and dedicating time daily to reading, particularly product discovery and strategy.

Follow Michele:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelesollecito

- X: https://twitter.com/sollecitome

Like this episode?

Remember to share it with your network, like it on YT, and review it on Spotify.

This podcast is hosted by Peppe Silletti:

* LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/peppesilletti

* Twitter – https://twitter.com/peppesilletti

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.invisiblealgorithms.com