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# Software ate the world

Ben Horowitz predicted ten years ago that [software will eat the world](https://a16z.com/2011/08/20/why-software-is-eating-the-world/). Looking back, he couldn't be more correct.  Software has become an inevitable part of business, rather than a source of competitive advantage. 

Companies must be aware that competitors who use software to better serve clients are growing elsewhere. Those who use software to create a sophisticated experience that meets user expectations will win. Those who do not will be defeated. The experience they build is a competitive advantage. Software can play a significant role in delivering it.

It's all about the customer experience these days. Users anticipate refined products and services that meet their sophisticated and personalized needs. They altered their behavior, requiring companies to provide next-day delivery, quick response, and the highest quality of service. They are well-informed, can quickly look for different options, and change their minds when a better option becomes available.

In addition, the last ten years have seen a significant shift in software development. With the development of frameworks, platforms for running software, and AI to assist programmers. It is now easier than ever to create software. Do software agencies keep up with change? How will they adapt to a changing environment to better serve their customers? How can they lead companies to build better experiences on behalf of their customers?

# What is wrong with software agencies?

Would you bet your business success on a team that delivers only 20-30% of things right? That’s the average percentage of things delivered by software teams that are usually considered successful. Not only agencies, but overall software teams. Software agencies should focus on avoiding common traps by addressing this inefficiency.

Many software agencies optimize their processes to churn out as many tasks as possible without considering whether these tasks truly benefit the businesses they serve. This approach lacks a focus on best practices for creating products and teams from the ground up, which is essential in becoming the foremost knowledge center in this domain. They think about building stage, not the product market fit as the objective.


![Initial Research2.png](https://strapi-appunite.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Initial_Research2_cf5e97b887.png)

Agencies often prioritize pleasing stakeholders and implementing what they believe is right, rather than building solutions that genuinely address the underlying problems. The result is an emphasis on output rather than accountability for results, leading to a fundamental issue—lack of ownership. The teams may end up developing what others think is the right solution, leaving them feeling disconnected from the outcomes. Software teams in those software agencies are just told to build that feature and they do it without proper context. That makes them deliver things that don't solve a problem most of the time.

Another trap is the failure to build teams tailored to specific problems, potentially yielding deliverables that don't truly solve users' issues. This misalignment can lead to ineffective allocation of resources, increased costs, and a common perception that hiring an internal team would be more cost-effective.

Integration is another stumbling block. Outsourced companies often have different objectives than the organizations they serve, causing another level of misalignment. Fortunately, retaining knowledge is no longer the challenge it once was, as the landscape of software development has evolved. Software agencies should prioritize adaptability, being ready to hand off work or onboard other teams seamlessly when the mission is complete. Their goal should be to ensure that knowledge is shared transparently and be part of the process. 

# What is wrong with building a software team on your own?

Building tech solutions in-house can be overwhelming. It diverts focus from core operations and can lead to inefficiencies.

Building a technical team from scratch can be akin to reinventing the wheel, a journey fraught with challenges and uncertainties. Many aspiring founders with brilliant yet technically complex ideas are hamstrung by their limited technical skills. They can’t take their ideas off the ground because they don’t have the strong technical skills to build out their often disruptive ideas.

Most startups are losing a lot of energy to build teams responsible for their software, while those startups don't strictly solve software problems. They should focus on the transformation of the industry they work with. Is it logistics, communication, real estate, housing, medicine, poverty, goods exchange — technology is here to solve human problems. It shouldn’t be an obstacle.

It’s all about the time of response. Building high-performing teams and aligning them around a problem takes much time. It isn’t only about recruiting but also getting familiar with people and integrating them into the team. Those are serious places that limit the potential at any product growth stage when you build an in-house team. 

Not only the early stages are important. Scalability becomes a concern when teams cannot swiftly adapt to shifting resource needs, leading to bottlenecks and delays.

# Empowered Software Agency

Software agencies must stop thinking about the outputs and instead focus on the underlying problem that brings their clients to them. They need to measure their success in solving that problem and build empowered teams around problems. Be an Empowered Software Agency.

Unlike traditional approaches, empowered teams measure their success not when a feature is shipped, but when the underlying problem is resolved. Instead of merely being assigned tasks, they are entrusted with understanding and solving the problem at its core, driven by a commitment to enhance your business.

These teams are not just focused on output but on outcomes, with their progress closely aligned with crucial business metrics. They actively plan, set goals, supervise their progress, and continually refine their strategies to ensure they're on the right track. Embracing a culture of iteration and experimentation, they integrate analytics into their workflow, creating valuable feedback loops that provide insights into their impact.

That’s a fundamental shift that makes the team accountable for the results. These empowered teams bear sole responsibility for delivering quality in their products and services, whatever the challenge. That’s an essential response to clients’ needs in a complex and ever-evolving business landscape.

# **Build.. eh be empowered with us**

Check out our Empowered Service homepage and start building with us [here.](https://appunite.com/empowered-teams?utm_source=karols-blog&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=empowered-software-agency)

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Discover the transformative power of Empowered Software Agencies – a paradigm shift that prioritizes problem-solving over mere output in Agency work. 

Empowered Software Agency - a transformative approach to software agency work

Empowered Software Agency: How to keep up with the speed of change leveraging from software?

Empowered Software Agency: How to keep up with the speed of change leveraging software?

The pressure of navigating the complicated world of software development is certainly something you have experienced before. Building roadmaps, requirements, or user stories often don’t give the business expected outcomes. Misalignment between what the business requires and what the team delivers drives team members nuts. That kills the team's motivation. What if I told you that the military mission command conduct could be the key to inspiring your software teams to reach new heights of efficiency, creativity, and commitment? The key to getting the results that you count from your team?

### Mission command

Mission command centers on a fundamental belief: When armed with a clear mission, your team can decide to move your business forward. Both empowerment and trust are important. When your team members feel that their input is valued and their decisions have an impact, it leads to a surge in motivation. That's the magic of mission command. It is a tool to cultivate team trust and accountability.

Mission command mirrors the principles of agility that so many software teams value: self-organization, quick adaptation, and iterative progress. Of course, mission command doesn't imply a lack of oversight. It's about laying out your mission with crystal clear clarity, supporting your team with the necessary resources, and setting up checkpoints to track progress and offer feedback. It’s about creating space to evaluate team progress and support them when needed.

### Practice

Let’s see how it works in practice. Considering your own tasks and responsibilities, you should reflect on what is important to you. Based on that, you define your mission by briefly describing the task and purpose. Define how you will measure the success of a mission. Describe additional constraints and unknowns you know when defining the mission. That’s your “What” you need to get done. 
![Mission - how to delegate](https://strapi-appunite.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Mission_delegate_structure_827c47ecc5.png)

Having that mission defined, you go to your team and brief them. The important step to get the alignment is asking ‘How’ they will implement it. It doesn’t have to be in big details. It’s a great moment to identify if the team considered everything in their implementation, their approach and if they are skilled enough to work on your mission. It gives you feedback on how engaged you will be to coach your team once they execute this idea. Sharing an implementation plan is called a back brief. It’s a double check for alignment and mechanism to build trust.

What is the structure of a Mission?

Mission — your ‘What’

- Assumptions - What you know, What you don’t know, Your beliefs and context
- Task + purpose - What is the actual task and why?
- Constraints - What are the boundaries that the owner of the mission can’t cross
- Success metrics - What does success mean for you in a given task? What metrics will you look at?
- Control loops - How will you check in with the mission owner?

### What do you get?

The end result? A culture where every team member feels involved, valued, and heard. An understanding between both sides, a clear communication channel. A setup where obstacles are tackled promptly and efficiently. 

The beauty of mission command lies in its universality. This method can help you realize the full potential of your software teams, whether you're in charge of a Silicon Valley start-up or a Japanese IT behemoth.

That’s also a great tool for cooperating with external parties. They usually have bigger autonomy in work, so you can leverage from defining clearly what is expected from them and how you will measure their success. 

### Mission command checklist:

1. **Define Your Mission Clearly**: Be explicit about your team's mission. It should include what you know and what you don’t know. What is the task, and why do you or the organization need it? Constraints should the team consider coming back to you with “How”? Define clear success measures.
2. **Understand ‘How’ the team wants to deliver**: Delegate responsibility and give your team members the autonomy to make decisions. Let them back brief you with details to give feedback ahead. This will boost morale and foster a sense of ownership.
3. **Ensure Effective Communication**: Keep lines of communication open. Share information freely so everyone has the context needed to make informed decisions.
4. **Provide Necessary Resources**: Equip your team with the tools, information, and resources they need to complete their tasks. You will know what they need based on their back brief. 
5. **Foster a Safe Environment**: Encourage open discussions, feedback, and disagreements. Your clear mission gives the team ability to feedback to you. They won’t do awesome work if they don’t believe in the work that needs to be done.
6. **Monitor and Provide Feedback**: Regularly review progress and provide constructive feedback. Remember, mission command doesn’t mean a lack of leadership or guidance. It ensures alignment and creates space for feedback.
7. **Celebrate Successes**: Acknowledge achievements, both big and small. This helps boost team morale and drives them to push the boundaries of what they can achieve.
8. **Stay Patient and Persistent**: Changing a team's culture takes time. Be patient, persistent, and consistent in implementing mission command. See what works and what doesn’t.

### Tool for communicating business needs

Never forget that technology is ultimately only a tool. How you use it is what counts, after all. And using it wisely, effectively, and in line with your company's strategy is possible with mission command.

You can use mission command to articulate business needs to your software team. That’s a communication bridge between business and technology. Use business metrics to define what success means for you. That will allow them to make better decisions when working on a solution to deliver what is required. They will understand the end goal. 

Ready to take the plunge? Embrace mission command and leap toward a more efficient, creative, and fulfilling software development. Software that hits what is required by business when expected and on plan.

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Discover how mission command can inspire your software teams to reach new heights of efficiency, creativity, and commitment. Embrace this powerful management approach and create a culture where every team member feels involved, valued, and heard

Discover how mission command can inspire your software teams to reach new heights of efficiency, creativity, and commitment. Embrace this powerful management approach and create a culture where every team member feels involved, valued, and heard.

Mission command: How to build expectations for your software team without killing the motivation?

Mission command: How to build expectations for your software team without killing motivation?

# Employing programming in organizations

Computer science is a relatively new discipline, having been established at [Purdue University in 1962](https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2544&context=cstech). It covered programming theory, numerical analysis, data processing and computer system design - all in one subject at a time.
The majority of computers were large mainframe computers and programming languages were developed primarily in universities. They were expected to solve academic issues. 

Over the years, businesses have learned over time that programming (or the applications that result from programming) is beneficial to them. It enables significant scale that was previously not possible by codifying decisions and automating work. Businesses began to use software not only as a tool, but also to centralize core processes around it. Bespoke platforms started to assist businesses in how they produce goods, communicate with customers, communicate internally, conduct sales and process payroll. Ideas on how to improve daily work are all over the place and they tend to die when we lack expertise. How do you effectively assist your managers in introducing innovations, fostering intrapreneurship and launching startups within corporations?

# Puzzle pieces that deliver projects on time

Have you ever thought about how code is created and deployed into production? Making the right choices about system architecture, coding language, or UI is only the beginning of a project. There are aspects of software development that cause traditional management practices to fail, such as using the appropriate open source libraries to speed up development and make it more error-prone, using tools like DDD to understand the domain, or managing the growth of codebase and technical debt. Bad software is frequently the result of poor project management rather than poor engineering choices. Not because of managers, but because of how engineers collaborate with business to understand the problem they are attempting to solve.
 
[Building high-performing teams](https://appunite.com/blog/building-teams-self-awareness) is one of the requirements to get quality software solutions. However, it is complex and time-consuming. Building teams is more than just hiring people with specific technical skills. It takes some time to get the team formed through various stages before they can deliver. Non-technical managers overlook this aspect while taking on the challenge of developing expertise inside the company. They don't acknowledge that programming or creating a solution isn't an individual task anymore, but a team effort, so you need the right team to tackle a problem.
 
Until 2010, programming was a highly specialized academic and craftsman occupation. A lot has changed in the last decade. As computer power has increased, programmers have become less concerned with optimizing memory or speed of execution. Several market standards have emerged, altering the landscape. We have 2-3 standard frameworks for creating frontend (React, Vue, Angular frameworks), rails standardized the way we test the software automatically, and there are common architectures like MVVM, MVP for building backend. These standards ensure that programmers can create long-lasting solutions. More importantly, it is easier to ensure development continuity when companies do not have to replace a team member or the entire team.

# Let's put the puzzles together

You don't start by hiring an HR department to look for architects, constructors, bricklayers, carpenters, or installers, when you want to build a house or a factory. You hire a specialized company that understands how to complete construction on time by adhering to industry standards and incorporating investor vision. They arrive at a construction site with previous project experience and teams ready to begin work. This method can also be used now to create software solutions.
 
I heard something a few years ago that I kept thinking about. If you have a brilliant idea, seven people all over the world have probably noticed the same problem and are thinking about it at the same time. It is much easier to copy things in today's interconnected world. Examples include Uber, Lyft, and Bolt. Companies must be quick to validate their ideas and avoid devoting resources to non-essentials.
 
We believe companies will specialize in their core competencies on a root problem they want to solve. They will cooperate with other companies to build up competencies they don't need to have, but they are crucial for project success. Companies will develop interfaces allowing them to start work and deliver value quickly. It will work the same way you build a picture using puzzles. If you need marketing, you will hire a company that knows how to discover your domain and make the right campaign to promote your product. If you need customer support, you will hire a company that knows how to understand your customers and the problems they face, and distribute knowledge to increase CX. If you need product development, you will hire a software prime contractor who knows what [architecture drivers](https://appunite.com/blog/what-are-architectural-drivers-in-software-development) will be necessary for your venture and what approach to take to build the solution on time.

Our – AppUnite – big mission is to deliver high-performing teams to effectively support your ventures by acting as a tech prime contractor.

# How can your company benefit?

If you want to assist your managers in introducing innovation that requires software to scale, technology or engineering should not be a barrier. If you see an opportunity to solve a larger market problem, it can be a great way to build a startup within your corporate environment. In a VUCA world, such experiments can lead to your company entering new markets and gaining a competitive advantage. That could be the next big thing for your company and you'll be in charge of it. Don't be limited by tech-savvy things that are difficult to understand. Confirm that the company follows standards. When looking for a partner in your venture, there are certain characteristics you should look for.

## Retaining knowledge

It is more about ensuring that the company uses standards for knowledge collection and management. Ask for information about how they retain domain knowledge and the decisions they make during software development. The context in which the code was created is usually what new developers don't understand. Are there any architecture drivers that were considered and incorporated into architecture to explain why a given database was considered the best pick at the time? How quickly can a new member set up a project? What are DevOps practices that automate the setup, development, the CI pipeline and tools for software quality assurance, such as static code analysis? It is critical to ask the potential partner, if they already have the necessary procedures in place.
 
We, at AppUnite, are actively thinking about old and new practices that make retaining knowledge a part of the building solutions, thanks to the efforts of many teams. We must be prepared to onboard our partners' teams to code at any time. Tools for development are emerging on a daily basis, and because we have multiple teams working on different ventures, we can easily test the right ones and incorporate them into other projects when we verify them quickly in one place. Such knowledge exchange is not possible in in-house teams.

## Not having right outcomes

Creating software is an expensive endeavor. Are you afraid of investing a lot of money and not getting the expected results? You're not alone. We believe it comes down to alignment and tailoring the approach to the stage of the venture. Companies acting as prime contractors should be aware that it is their responsibility to understand the expected outcome. It's not about estimates; estimates are merely tools. Building a startup in a new or unknown market requires a different approach than building a platform that automates corporate core processes. To make these two different ventures successful, you must consider different competencies in your team. AppUnite relieves our clients of this responsibility by actively gathering context and speaking with customers about various options.


## Communication and Transparency

We adhere to the [principles of getting naked](https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Naked-Business-Shedding-Sabotage/dp/0787976393). We try to be vulnerable in our communication by embracing humility, selflessness and transparency for the benefit of the client. It's not easy to be naked in front of our client, but honest conversations help us build trust. We've learned over the years that the sooner we go to our client with a problem we see in various areas, the sooner we'll find a solution. It is critical not only to inform your partner of the situation, but also to speak up, if we notice inconsistency or something wrong with your client's behavior.

Before signing a contract with a company, inquire about how they share problems with you. What was their worst-case scenario and how did they handle it? I understand that asking such questions may appear unprofessional, but if you try it, you will see how many benefits it can bring to cooperation.

## Closing cooperation

Before beginning a collaboration with a prime contractor, it's a good idea to discuss the exit strategy openly. There are several reasons why the road may fork for both companies at some point. We believe it is simply a part of the process. We want to ensure that we never create a vendor lock for our client. We are prepared to suspend work, scale down our team and be replaced by any other agency or client's in-house team at any time. We call it an agile exit because we together develop an exit strategy with our client. It enables a smooth transition and easy management of expectations.

# What you can do with

In-house teams may overlook having the necessary procedures in place and verifying the tools based on experience.  Expected outcomes come from crafting the solutions by the team tailored to a particular stakeholder and awareness of their needs. All of this is possible when cooperation is founded on open communication and trust. I hope the article helps you better understand our approach to taking responsibility for your venture. Please [let us know](https://appunite.com/briefs) if you need assistance with your innovation. We are delighted to help.


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Programming was once a highly specialized academic and craftsman occupation. By codifying decisions and automating the work, it enabled significant scale that was previously not possible. As a result, businesses began to use bespoke platforms to help them produce goods, communicate with customers, conduct sales, and process payroll. Ideas for improving daily work are everywhere, but they die when we lack expertise. How do you help your managers introduce innovations, foster intrapreneurship, and launch startups within corporations?

How do you help your managers introduce innovations, foster intrapreneurship, and launch startups within corporations?

Stop dismissing great ideas because of no software product team! That no longer has to be the case.

# Remote work will stay with us

Two years ago a lot of companies switched to working from home, some decided to stay remote first. Working remotely will stay with us and, as a result, we need to learn how to tackle issues generated by this workstyle. 

Humans are not thinking machines that feel, on the contrary, they are feeling machines that think. This may be forgotten when we work remotely surrounded by four walls. People working from home lack the opportunity to have water cooler chats at the office. This changes the dynamics of building relationships. 

Every voice holds valuable information and it's hard to  make sure that every voice is heard in a distributed environment. That's why we need to create another set of tools when working remotely to communicate efficiently. It's a key to removing frustrations and growing your team in a more sustainable way.


# Think about workspace

For me, switching from office based to remote, isn't about switching the place where we work. It's important to build up new skills not only as an individual, but also as an organization. [According to Inc. Gen Z](https://www.inc.com/rebecca-hinds/the-workplace-isnt-designed-for-gen-z-heres-what-needs-to-change.html) is hailed as the most creative and individualistic generation. As a result companies must adapt and learn how to build the right remote workspace.

An organization is a group of independent teams working together to reach a common goal. Each team is connected to one another. In order to succeed companies must create great workplaces that generate high-performing teams. 

A "high-performance work team" refers to a group of goal-focused individuals with specialized expertise and complementary skills who collaborate, innovate and produce superior results consistently. Easy to say, not so easy to do.

The first step is to make teams self-aware of what they are missing to become high performing. It might be silly, but not designing tools to allow teams to reflect, may be a cultural trap for your organization. The team needs to know if they lack expertise, other teams’ support, or have a challenge outside the organization, tools, or other commodities.


# Why self-awareness is important

In traditional command and control organizations, a common approach to address issues is to focus on individuals, not the underlying system’s dynamics. Modern companies are more of a web of connections between teams, departments and functions. Constellation of these teams plays a natural and constant game of interests between these entities of a company. If you understand this, self-awareness as well as relationships with others, start to play an important role. Teams are living organisms with their own needs. They use other teams' resources and collaborate with them for a greater good.

A key driver to high-performing teams is understanding their members, their common needs and their dependencies on other teams or environmental constraints. Making a team aware of their dependencies, challenges and shortcomings allows them to react and improve. They can start to consciously reflect on what they control and what they do not, as well as ask for help needed by others. They take ownership of their team's growth by growing team members in the direction of their goals and on things they want to achieve. 

# How to build self-awareness

## Start with ideal place

Start by defining what the ideal place a team wants to be in in the future is. I do this by defining the characteristics of the best team ever with team members. 

Every team is different, by acknowledging that, you allow the team to build their soul. That usually generates purpose, a common goal for a team, if it wasn't defined before. If it was, it allows reflection if a common goal is still valid or requires work.


## Recognizing blockers

The second step is to define things that prevent you from being there. I use design thinking techniques to talk about things that bother people. 

![design-thinking.png](https://strapi-appunite.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/design_thinkings_2b6b84ba05.png)

Designing thinking workshops have three stages: the divergent phase, the emergent phase and the convergent phase. This is a brilliant technique that allows you to make sure that we hear everybody and decide what matters for a team, making the discussion focused.

## Divergent Phase

During the divergent phase, allowing everybody to be heard is important. Nobody should be judging other problems, challenges, and dependencies. You should prevent any discussions that turn into criticism.

Every voice contains relevant information to consider, even if it sounds as if it should be marginalized. Your job is to ensure safety by expressing even the smallest things that bother team members.

## Emergent Phase

The emergent phase starts with grouping things together. Problems, challenges, environmental issues and dependencies start to emerge. 
When you are sure that you can demarcate the main themes, you can start discussing them. Use techniques such as five Whys and ask such questions as "How do we want to do it?", "Why do you think so?", "What is important for us?", "What is going to help us?". It drills down into problems and allows you to find the root causes of problems.

## Convergent phase

The convergent phase finishes with a team understanding of the impact of things that emerged from a team during the workshop. 
It's a time when people start to see what is important, what is urgent and what generates the biggest impact on a team. You come up with a list of things that are important for a team, things they can work on - a challenges list.

# What can you do with your challenges list?

The sky's the limit; as the next step, you can agree on a plan how to tackle the challenges you are facing. 
Consider what is important and urgent when prioritizing challenges you may tackle as a team. Having a list of challenges creates space for healthy and constructive arguments between team members on their ideas. 

Remember that you don't need to solve the problem at once and treat them as a task list. Some are too complex, so you might only want to lower their impact or ignore them for the time being (or just accept they are there). Those are the things that people feel they are. By accepting them, you can move forward in creating a high performing team. Isn't it the environment people want to live in? 

Make small steps, as one rock always starts the avalanche.



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Building high-performance teams is hard. You need to ensure that your workplace has tools that make teams able to grow by having the right context and being self-aware. 

Building teams self-awareness - a practical guide

Karol Wojtaszek

Empowered Software Agency: How to keep up with the speed of change leveraging software?

Mission command: How to build expectations for your software team without killing motivation?

Stop dismissing great ideas because of no software product team! That no longer has to be the case.

Building teams self-awareness