Quantum theory holds that we can know the position of a particle or its speed, but not both.
My favourite metaphor for this is the pool table.
You can have a super high-resolution still picture of the table, the balls static but perfectly detailed.
Or you can have grainy black and white CCTV camera footage of the balls as they move around.
Which is ‘better’?
It depends on what you’re trying to achieve.
Need to know the exact number and colour of the balls on the table? Or need to calculate roughly where the last hit ball ends up? You’re going to need different measurements.
But when it comes to technology teams, momentum and speed are everything.
The more observation you place a team under, the more minutely you try to track and refine what they’re working on, optimising every last ounce of time spent, the longer things seem to take.
Ironically, we tend to do this most when things are already slow, to try and figure out where there is inefficiency or waste.
if instead we zoom out, focus on the outputs rather than the internal workings, set the standards and expectations and let the team themselves figure out how to achieve them - in short, if we trust the team - we allow them to move faster and with more confidence and creativity.
Too much observation collapses the wave.
No waves, no flow.
No flow, no joy.
Let go.
And let your team go quantum.