So here’s a thing that’s been bugging me a lot lately: don’t treat the people in your organisation like they’re fungible because they really, really aren’t. 1/?

We all know that everyone has their own strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Yet often organisations treat people with similar job titles as if they’re completely interchangeable. 2/?

We’ve all seen it: “We need a Dev/PM/Designer/Rocket Surgeon” - and so someone is moved between teams - “OK have [Insert Name Here]” - without considering that person’s individual skillset and interests, and often without even bothering to properly consult them. 3/?

This makes makes people unhappy for (at least) two reasons: 1) they feel undervalued and unappreciated, and 2) often end up not doing the work they want to and/or are best at. 4/?

This is bad not just because it’s a crappy way to treat people - which frankly ought to be enough - but also because unhappy people are less productive. 5/?

That lack of productivity gets worse as time goes on. It also makes people around them less happy and less productive too, especially when they start to wonder if they’re going to be next. 6/?

So sooner or later everyone’s pissed off, and people start to leave. And that’s especially true of your best people - the ones you’d really like to keep - because they have the most opportunities elsewhere. 7/?

“Ah well, yes, I see your point Andy, but the thing is we have to do it this way because [reasons] and [special circumstances] and [random excuses]. ” 8/?

I don’t buy that, but either way it won’t change the outcome. You want people to be happy, do good work, and not quit? Treat them with the respect they deserve, not as interchangeable cogs in a big, impersonal machine. 9/?

Yes, that’s really hard work, and you probably can’t keep everyone 100% happy 100% of the time, but trust me - it’ll be well worth the effort in the long run. 10/10

Oh, and all this is without even mentioning the problems of context switching, bringing new team members up to speed, disruption to team dynamics, etc. But this is just a Twitter rant and we haven’t got all day, right? 11/11 :-)