At BT, Ramji's approach is to let between six and nine technical teams compete to offer the best solution to customers -- not internal employees setting the business requirements, but actual end users. The teams meet the customers early on so that they understand the problem and are more motivated to solve it. Would-be solutions are then presented in a competitive public environment before internal executives and customers.

'There's huge peer-group pressure, Ramji said. 'The whole point is to have fun but also make it hugely stressful.'

It is important that customers get to see the proposals, warts and all. 'That was when they started to view us like their own internal IT guys,' Ramji said.

He said it also was important to get all of the groups in an IT organization -' which he says can be as hierarchical as the Indian caste system -- to work together.

That involves more than copying messages to different managers. It means actually ensuring that all teams participate and insisting that everyone be measured by the same two metrics: cycle time and whether something was done right the first time.