Don't Forget to Talk

Most often, however, it ends up being small groups of people around a few chalkboards talking through new ideas. Some of our best ideas have spawned from these 30-minute sessions, and quite often the ideas start flowing and an hour later we realize "no computer time" has long since been over.

Also, it's funny the number of times just speaking a problem out loud changes your perspective on things. I've worked on short-deadline projects where we asked team members to set a one-hour time limit on problems. If you're stuck on something for more than an hour, explain the problem to your neighbor and ask for help. There were several times when I turned toward my neighbor and realized the solution before I said a word. I suspect that the act of organizing the problem in order to explain it made it easier to solve.

The problems begin to arise when that balance is broken - too much "own world" programming can lead to quirks that only a single person understands; while too much discussion can lead to never getting actual work done.