We don't need heroes

This text is about “No more heroes” and I'm not talking about the game with lightsabers on Wii

I am talking about software development and management. Over the years, I always see that is very common the figure of “The Hero” in software companies. Well, before talking why this is a bad thing, let's define what is “The Hero”.

The Hero is a smart person. Always have the skills to deal with all kind of problems. Know a lot of programming, backend, frontend, dev ops and even make a good coffee in the kitchen. This figure is available to fix your issue even if there are a lot of other urgent tasks on the queue. OH MY GOD, the database is offline, and it's Saturday? Don't worry: the hero can solve this, just wait a minute, the hero's mother's birthday is happening right now, but this incredible worker brought a laptop in the backpack, just in case!

Every hard task of the project is assigned to the hero. After all, who is better to tackle that? The project almost misses the target every sprint, but the hero, in the last day, appears late on the daily with all remaining tasks done.

At first glance, this is a great situation. But I believe this is TERRIBLE.

The hero is veiling a bad process

“In the end (this doesn't even matter) everything went well, another successful sprint finish and the software is in the hands of the happy user. Our agile process is great and is working!” — The manager from a team with a hero can say that. But the problem is: the hero can be masking big failures. For instance: your estimate method can be very bad, but, because of the hero, the completeness rate is good.

You can not properly be managing risks and issues, which can lead to delays, setbacks, and other issues that can compromise the success of the project. But it's hard to see that. Because of the hero.

The team become fragile

The team trust in the hero. Because everything is going to be alright. But, imagine if the hero is sick? Or change the company? Or win the lottery and never come back to work? We need to improve the resilience of the team and part of this work is to develop everyone, grant opportunities and challenges to all, not only to the hero.

How long you can be a Hero?

And for last but not least: This is not good for the hero's health, both mental and physical. Our lives are much more than work. Always remember this. In the long term the hero will gain a burnout, the project will be delayed, the others members will not develop skills, the metrics will be fake. The squad will fail.