This principle throws a wrench in the old top-down way of doing software. You know, where managers and architects dictate everything from on high. Instead, it argues that the best, most innovative solutions—architectures, requirements, designs—don’t just appear from one smart person’s head. They emerge from teams working together, using their combined smarts and hands-on experience. These are the people closest to the actual problem, knee-deep in finding a solution. They’re best placed to really understand the nitty-gritty details and the ever-changing challenges.

When you look at an org chart, you see obvious communication flows: manager to report and back up. Up and down, the person furthest from the top is also furthest from someone on the other side of the organization. But real, important work happens over invisible horizontal lines. It’s when we make space for folks in other teams, other departments, to talk and accomplish customer goals. Flip that org chart upside down, and you get a better picture of how it SHOULD work—managers holding up their teams, ensuring they have the resources needed to collaborate and do their best.

Empowering teams to self-organize means giving them the reins. Trust them with the freedom and responsibility to figure out how to hit their goals. This kind of environment sparks creativity, builds strong ownership, and gets problems solved collaboratively. When teams trust themselves to chart their own course, they naturally build solutions that are not only technically sound, but also practical and tailored to the real world. This approach pulls in different viewpoints, keeps everyone learning, and makes sure the final product comes from shared expertise and commitment. It’s not just following some rigid blueprint handed down from above.