Comments on: Best Buy tries its hand at being small. http://refactr.com/blog/2008/06/best-buy-tries-its-hand-at-being-small/ informs on and evangelizes best practices of using <a href="http://refactr.com/the-agile-manifesto/">agile methods</a> when designing and developing what are currently being called “Web 2.0” products and applications. Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:36:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Brent http://refactr.com/blog/2008/06/best-buy-tries-its-hand-at-being-small/#comment-15736 Brent Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:46:42 +0000 http://refactr.com/blog/?p=163#comment-15736 I'd argue this model is less risky than their previous one. It's certainly a departure from the normal corporate model, but when you look at the potential downside of that old model, and how much time and money could be wasted on something that never ends up producing, the new model just makes better business sense. Crap ideas are thrown out before it's too late, and good ideas get more funding. Really, the reason I like it is that it helps empower employees. With design-by-committee projects, no one feels a sense of ownership of a process and it can be very demoralizing to a staff. If you empower your employees to grab hold of ideas and let the best ones percolate to the top, everyone to some degree is invested in the company beyond just collecting a paycheck. Empowered employees tend to make better products. I’d argue this model is less risky than their previous one. It’s certainly a departure from the normal corporate model, but when you look at the potential downside of that old model, and how much time and money could be wasted on something that never ends up producing, the new model just makes better business sense. Crap ideas are thrown out before it’s too late, and good ideas get more funding.

Really, the reason I like it is that it helps empower employees. With design-by-committee projects, no one feels a sense of ownership of a process and it can be very demoralizing to a staff. If you empower your employees to grab hold of ideas and let the best ones percolate to the top, everyone to some degree is invested in the company beyond just collecting a paycheck. Empowered employees tend to make better products.

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