BusinessWeek just ran a good article about Mozilla's development process for Firefox. As readers of metacool know, I'm a big fan of Mozilla, and look to them as a living example of many of the organizational trends that will become more widespread over the coming years.
I particularly like the idea of "leading from behind" mentioned in the article:
How Mozilla channels those efforts is a model for a growing number of companies trying to tap into the collective talents of large pools of software developers and other enthusiasts of a product, brand, or idea. "There's structure in it," says Mike Beltzner, who runs Firefox. "But at the same time you allow people to innovate and to explore and [give them] the freedom to do what they want along those edges—that's where innovation tends to happen in startling and unexpected ways."
At Firefox, Beltzer calls it "leading from behind." His team makes only the highest, direction-setting decisions, such as the date each new version of Firefox has to ship. It's up to Mozilla staff and volunteers to meet those deadlines through a process of identifying specific tasks that need to be done and accomplishing them. A system of recognition has formed among volunteers, who can be designated as "module owners" and given authority over certain areas, such as the layout.
Mozilla is a wonderful example of Principle 12 in action.
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