I have regular pain with the team because they don't know anything beside option 2. No middleground to dig and plan at least to some amount. It's a strange swamp because they justify that because that's what agile is (according to them) but they feel angry every month, and then do less and less work because they think it's too hard and requires a higher TC.
I'm the lowest pawn on the ladder. But we have time to adjust our ways, so I asked them, but they just refuse. It's all block and nap then rush (with some "can you skip lunch maybe?").
Method 1 is definitely a culture that needs to be encouraged and nourished (and sometimes people need to be trained). And it's fragile: If there's even a hint of "What have you coded in the last week/month" from anywhere up the management chain--poof! It's gone and everyone is motivated to move to Method 2.
Thanks. I'm very much interested in the psychology of social structure / workgroups. These are indeed very brittle and it doesn't take much to make a race to the bottom.
I'm always thinking about relay-like and continuous improvement (team processes and mastery, not CI/CD) between team members to promote curiosity, high drive, creativity and friendly competition.
