Colin Hartnett (cphartne)
Ego and _The Mythical Man-Month_

In an ideal situation, the stratfication of teams Brooks lays out, such
as the distinct separation into architects and implementors and the
division of implementors using the surgical team model seem like they
would work well if put into practice with a team of nonhuman
programmers. Brooks only touchs on the issue of ego, which almost
always is a huge issue in any team environment.

The surgical team model inherently creates an aristocracy. In the
operating room, roles are much better defined. The anesthesiologist
does not even know how to remove an appendix. In a programming
environment, the situation is quite the opposite. Typically, each core
member of the team could fulfill any of the jobs. This can create a
great amount of tension between coworkers, as one will typically feel
they could do a better job than another. This could lead to complaints
behind team members' backs, infighting, and nasty political battles,
which, in an environment so reliant on communication, is a major
hinderance.

Brooks addresses this issue a bit more when he discusses the
architect-implementor division. Still, it is inevitable that some
implementors will only begrudgingly complete the task because they are
convinced that they could have done a better job designing the system.
These are the kind of unpredictable team issues that can lead to
schedule problems.

It is impossible to ignore the human ego. As Brooks says, the democratic
model is not the best way to engineer large-scale systems. However, even
the most seemingly insignificant team members need to have some sort of
say in the higher levels of the project, or they may not be motivated or
even able to complete the lower levels to the degree that is expected.
It is very probable that the subordinates will be come disenchanted if
the monarch rules with an iron fist.

On the other hand, it is important for all the members of a team to curb
their egos and allow themselves to judge based only on the best
interests of the project, not in how they would do it if they were in
charge.

These are probably the most difficult aspects of a team project to
predict and compensate for in scheduling.