Theory Versus Reality

As part of software development I have used tools that are helpful during the development process. Two of these tools are version and issue management tools. These tools are used in software development for organization and monitoring status of the software development. While they are associated with software development, I have found them useful for other types of projects such as technical manual development. I've successfully used version management for technical manuals development for fifteen years and issue tracking for five years.

I've used computers for many years in many ways. I've developed software for them, used software tools, supported computers on a local network and helped users with computer problems. During that time I've seen software used in many different ways by different users.  A common problem I've seen is users excited about using a software tool at the start of a project only to lose interest and fall back to older software or real world tools. The chosen software didn't work as expected and it is easier to fall back on old methods of doing a task.

I'm starting with a look at teams and team building in companies. Effective teams are considered an important part of businesses yet business practices seemed designed to hobble the people who are working together. Specifically, I want to look at the assumptions people make when using these business practices. Based on my observation and anecdotal evidence, when people don't understand the assumptions of a business practice, they may apply those practices to problems that don't fit them well.