Instead, you can manage the culture and then let the culture manage the group by means of self-regulation, cooperation, peer pressure and other means. Starting in this column and concluding in next month's, I will discuss ways to establish and foster a self-regulating group culture in software development teams.

Code ownership

The most important element of developing group culture is code ownership. Code is the group's greatest asset because it is the main thing that it has to show for all of its work. It also serves as means of communication: Just as mathematicians communicate their ideas most precisely with equations, developers communicate their ideas most precisely with code. By protecting the quality of their code, developers can preserve their best ideas in the clearest, most concise way possible, as well as ensure that their communications are as effective as possible.

Because code is such an important expression and product of the group, caring about the quality and success of this code is fundamental to group culture. It is the glue that holds a group together. You want to build a culture where the developers' attitude toward the code reflects the code's importance.

It's fundamental that everyone feels that they have a stake in maintaining high-quality code. This prevents group members from doing anything that harms code quality -- if they care about the code, they won't hack at it, shortchange it, wire it, etc.; they will always try to ensure that it is solid and working. This, in turn, fosters the growth of other fundamental elements of a self-regulating group (such as self-discipline and cooperation).