Diverge, Converge, Speak Up: The Discipline of Team Creativity

Session description

The best software doesn't come from the best individuals. It comes from teams that know how to think together. Things work when a junior developer can challenge a senior architect's assumption, when a tester can flag that a solution is heading in the wrong direction before it's too late, and when the presence of a VP in the room doesn't freeze the conversation.

That kind of team doesn't happen by accident. It's built through deliberate culture, clear norms, and an understanding of what gets in the way.

This talk explores the conditions that make software teams genuinely creative: what psychological safety really means in practice, how teams move between expanding possibilities and committing to decisions, how to recognise when someone is closing down a conversation that should still be open, and what specific character dynamics, and hierarchy effects, do to team creativity when left unmanaged.

Practical, honest, and grounded in 30 years of building and leading teams.