Service in Series - an Anti-Pattern (and how to correct it)

What can today’s software engineering and product development teams learn from the US Army’s Special Forces? Team size, team construction, and autonomy.

Welcome to an intriguing exploration of the remarkable success achieved by small Special Forces teams, operating within the team sizes suggested by Robin Dunbar’s anthropological research. We'll consider how their compact size, cross-functional structure, and local autonomy led to decisive and successful actions against a determined foe in the early stages of a prolonged war. Then we'll draw parallels to how businesses can structure their product teams using Dunbar's guidance, emphasizing autonomy and cross-functional collaboration.

Picture a rugged mountainous expanse, a terrain as diverse as its tribal culture, where an oppressive regime had long maintained control. Seeking to expand and project their influence, the regime coordinates an attack on a larger international neighbor, drawing a global response.

Amidst this challenging backdrop, enter the small, specialized units – US Army Special Forces.

These special forces operate in teams aligning with research published by Dunbar. His research on primates suggested a limit to the number of interpersonal relationships that could be maintained, from close personal relationships to village- and tribe-sized collegial relationships. Further, Dunbar postulated that the optimal team size for close collaboration was 12-15 individuals. [VISUALS: Animated Dunbar's number and a cohesive team of 12-15 members]

Two other factors contributed to their striking success.

1. These teams were each fully self-sufficient; members represented all skills necessary for mission accomplishment. Each a warrior, every soldier also served as a specialist: medic, engineer, demolitions, communications, linguistics, and others.

1. In addition to skillset, the combined team had authority to make decisions based on mission parameters PLUS the conditions they encountered on the ground, without requiring an approval from a higher authority. This autonomy allowed for immediate execution, critical to the teams’ overall success.

In the first few months of the conflict, these specialized units with their small team size and cohesive structure repelled the regime forces. As chronicled in the movie, “12 Strong,” US Army Special Forces made dramatic progress, proving that in even complex and challenging environments, nimble and focused teams can achieve remarkable success.

Now, let’s draw some parallels between effective US Special Forces units and your engineering teams. Special Forces units are generally comprised of 8-10 people where every skill set needed to achieve a successful outcome is present and has a backup. Highly effective engineering teams are also generally comprised of a small team of people who have cross functional skill sets to ensure no Single Point Of Failure. As an example, technology startups consist of a single, fully cross-functional team that is capable of quickly delivering their product to market.

A compact team can communicate more effectively, make decisions faster, and adapt swiftly to changing market dynamics. While 12-15 is Dunbar’s suggested size for coordination and collaboration, even military squads frequently organize in smaller sub-teams with a supervisor (Assistant Squad Leader). Agile teams in software development mimic that same organization concept with a team of 6-8 working with a Scrum Master.

In a self-contained, cross-functional team, every member contributes their unique expertise, leading to a more holistic view of the product and quicker problem-solving. Developers, Quality Assurance, DevOps and Infrastructure all interoperate within the team, each focused on mission accomplishment—development and successful deployment of features for our Customers.

Providing autonomy to each member within the 12-15 team size empowers them to act decisively, fostering a culture of responsibility and ownership.

• Make decisions at the lowest level possible.
• Encourage your teams to decide quickly.
• If an idea fails, fail fast and adjust strategy.

Special Forces Key Takeaways:

1. Structure your Product Engineering organization into small, self-sufficient teams to maximize their ability to communicate and coordinate on common goals.

1. Empower self-sufficient teams to make decisions locally within their team, guided towards the higher organizational and enterprise goals.

By adopting a small team size using a self-contained, cross-functional, autonomous approach, businesses can enhance their product development, building and maintaining development velocity, promoting resilience and ensuring success in a dynamic marketplace.

AKF Partners works with our clients on these topics every day. If you'd like guidance on implementing these strategies in your business, reach out to us at akfpartners.com. We're here to help you build successful organizations that create valuable products with velocity.