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Vitamin A for Engineering teams: Dogfooding your product
The last three articles explored the parallels between macronutrients and team management elements: carbs were seen as motivation to inject energy into teams, protein as continuous improvement to build team strength, and fat as strategic thinking for long-term sustained team health.
In this article, we will begin shifting our focus to micronutrients. We will start with Vitamins, specifically Vitamin A. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means it’s absorbed with fats. Aside from strengthening immunity against infections, Vitamin A is essential for maintaining healthy vision and helps convert light into signals our brains can interpret, enabling us to see clearly. In engineering teams, clear eyesight can be thought of as deeply understanding customer needs and the product the teams work on.
One effective method to achieve this is “dogfooding,” a practice where team members use and test their products to identify potential improvements, find bugs, and think about new solutions. This process ensures that teams remain closely connected to the user experience, mirroring the role of Vitamin A in enhancing and maintaining eyesight.
