Doc Norton

A culture of dependency starts when leaders never let go of the steering wheel.
Trust the team. Let them navigate.

Growth isn’t about what you’ve done—
it’s about what you’re willing to change.
See a better way? Make it yours.

If you’ll be held accountable for the outcome,
you should have a say in the decision.

Release ridiculously often — Doc Norton & Associates The seventh behavior, “Release ridiculously often,” is usually met with nods from half of the crowd and raised eyebrows from the other half. The nodders want to know why it isn’t higher on the list...

Still stuck planning?
Build a little.
Release a little.
Learn a lot.

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#CreateSimpleThingsInSmallSteps #ReleaseRidiculouslyOften

Bad targets don’t reveal bad employees.
They reveal lazy systems thinking.

Top-down decisions may deliver short-term consistency.
But long-term excellence comes from collaborative problem-solving.

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#WorkTogether

“Good leaders inspire people to have confidence in their leader. Great leaders inspire people to have confidence in themselves.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt #leadership

Release ridiculously often — Doc Norton & Associates The seventh behavior, “Release ridiculously often,” is usually met with nods from half of the crowd and raised eyebrows from the other half. The nodders want to know why it isn’t higher on the list...

Releasing isn’t the end of the work. It’s the start of the learning.
What’s one thing you could release today to test your assumptions?

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#SoftwareDevelopment #ExperimentationMindset

Commanding assumes you know best.
Leading assumes we get better together.

Know the problem you are solving — Doc Norton & Associates “Know the problem you are solving” is about knowing the specific problem and for whom this problem exists. It isn't about knowing what solution a persona lacks but about truly understanding a persona's...

Creating software isn’t hard.
Creating the right software is.
Start by knowing the problem.

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#KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving

Release ridiculously often — Doc Norton & Associates The seventh behavior, “Release ridiculously often,” is usually met with nods from half of the crowd and raised eyebrows from the other half. The nodders want to know why it isn’t higher on the list…

You don’t need more time between releases.
You need less risk in each release.

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#ReleaseRidiculouslyOften

Know the problem you are solving — Doc Norton & Associates “Know the problem you are solving” is about knowing the specific problem and for whom this problem exists. It isn't about knowing what solution a persona lacks but about truly understanding a…

If you start solving a problem before you truly understand it, you’re not solving—you’re guessing.

Clarity first.

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#KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving

Slow delivery isn't usually about your people—it's about your system. @docondev.bsky.social shares that shifting focus to incremental system improvements helps change not just processes but behaviors for lasting impact. https://link.testdouble.com/09fc66

Top-down decision-making can create a culture of dependency. Teams thrive when they are trusted to make decisions and are given the opportunity to learn from both successes and failures.

#autonomy #ExperimentationMindset #KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving

Escape Velocity — Doc Norton & Associates Michael Norton (Doc) is a software delivery professional working to make the world of software development a better place. His experience covers a wide range of development topics. Doc declares…

Test coverage needs to be achieved intentionally; thinking about what needs to be tested, and why and how.

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Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. - Robert Collier

"Quality is everyone's responsibility." - W. Edwards Deming

The best teams know when not to build something.
The backlog isn’t a to-do list—it’s a set of hypotheses to test.

#KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving #SoftwareDevelopment

The people closest to the work are closest to the truth.
Let them decide.
Management’s job is to create space, not control outcomes.

Release ridiculously often — Doc Norton & Associates The seventh behavior, “Release ridiculously often,” is usually met with nods from half of the crowd and raised eyebrows from the other half. The nodders want to know why it isn’t higher on the list...

Great products aren’t built in silence.
They’re built through feedback—early and often.

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#SoftwareDevelopment #ReleaseRidiculouslyOften

Validate Before, During, and After — Doc Norton & Associates To validate is to confirm something has the quality of being well-grounded or correct. Validate before, during, and after is a reminder that teams should be confirming along the way.

Software project risk is rarely about unexpected change.
It’s about unchangeable expectations.

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#ValidateBeforeDuringAndAfter

Know the problem you are solving — Doc Norton & Associates “Know the problem you are solving” is about knowing the specific problem and for whom this problem exists. It isn't about knowing what solution a persona lacks but about truly understanding a persona's...

You’re not writing software.
You’re solving a problem—with software as the medium.

Know the problem you are solving — Doc Norton & Associates “Know the problem you are solving” is about knowing the specific problem and for whom this problem exists. It isn't about knowing what solution a persona lacks but about truly understanding a…

Creating software isn’t just about coding; it’s about understanding the problem deeply.

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#KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving

Work Together — Doc Norton & Associates When I say, “work together”, I mean just that. Do the actual work together. Every aspect of the product lifecycle is an opportunity for collaboration - Identifying problems to solve, user and market…

Open communication and honest dialogue foster a culture of trust and collaboration.

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#WorkTogether

Focus on idle work
not idle workers
to achieve fast,
flexible flow.

- Ken Rubin

In a Complex Environment
Uncertainty is often Uncomfortable
But
Certainty is Usually Foolish

Escape Velocity — Doc Norton & Associates Michael Norton (Doc) is a software delivery professional working to make the world of software development a better place. His experience covers a wide range of development topics. Doc declares…

It is not so much that employees game the system when they strive to hit targets.

It is more that managers game the system by setting targets.

The resulting employee behavior is natural consequence.

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#leadership

Leading ≠ commanding.
One builds alignment.
The other issues orders.
Only one scales.

What is something you could do today that would allow you to learn more about what you should do next?

#CreateSimpleThingsInSmallSteps #SoftwareDevelopment #ReleaseRidiculouslyOften

Work Together — Doc Norton & Associates When I say, “work together”, I mean just that. Do the actual work together. Every aspect of the product lifecycle is an opportunity for collaboration - Identifying problems to solve, user and market…

Psychological safety isn’t a bonus in complex systems—it’s a prerequisite.
People need to feel safe, valued, and heard before they can truly work together.

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#safety #WorkTogether