Patterns: Navigate the navigators
Context
One member of the mob is an expert in the work at hand, while no one else understands how to proceed.
If only a minority of the group doesn’t know how to do the work, or if each person only knows one part of the work, this pattern is unnecessary. Mob as usual.
Purpose
If the expert were to take the Driver’s seat the mob would stall without the expert’s guidance.
Even when the expert is not a Driver, they’ll be the only one speaking, and the rest of the group will be largely idle.
Fix both of these problems.
How To
Have the expert position themselves outside of the mob. The expert’s job is to speak at the highest level of understanding of the mob, and allow the mob to figure out the mechanics.
The expert talks in questions. Ask the question that will probe the thing that you want the mob to get to. Two questions that often help:
- Does it compile?
- Does it work?