Eliminating hero culture in software engineering teams

As a woman with a few years of experience in engineering I have often noticed that every team has a “Hero”, as I have been one myself. The hero is usually identified as the hardworking, highly talented and knowledgeable team member.

Contrary to appearances, the hero-based culture is extremely inefficient and creates a rigid environment that lacks the agility to respond to rapidly changing conditions – customers, competitors, product lines, regulations, economics, talent, etc. If you identify with the hero-culture in your organization, it is a red flag that your organization needs to change. I will discuss different methodologies to help organizations and teams avoid “hero culture”.