{
  "id": 6577283,
  "title": "Beyond Autonomous Teams in Software Product Development",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/beyond-autonomous-teams-in-software-product-development",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-10T10:29:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "InfoQ",
    "slug": "infoq",
    "url": "https://www.infoq.com/news/2026/09/autonomous-software-teams/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Simon Rohrer, speaking at the Craft conference, advocated for a shift in software product development towards focusing on value centers rather than individual product teams. Rohrer argued that every team's value is interconnected and changes constantly. He introduced the concept of a value center, where every team exists because of its inherent value to the organization. The shape of a team's value determines its autonomy and coherence, with some dependencies being essential and others accidental.\n\nRohrer proposed five questions for every value center at every level to help navigate the complexities of software product development. These questions include identifying what value is being delivered, how to coordinate efforts, how to fit together, what's available, and who the team is. These questions are based on Stafford Beer's Viable Systems Model, which emphasizes that a system's purpose is what it does.\n\nRohrer used the metaphor of simple and complex molecules to visualize value shapes in organizations. Simple molecules, like individual services or components, have minimal dependencies, while complex molecules, like interconnected trading platforms, are crucial to understanding the value delivered to customers. Despite technical development being decoupled, the value cannot be separated. Rohrer's talk concluded by emphasizing the importance of networking and avoiding the product-centric mindset, moving towards an organization that is nested and networked, where value delivery is a key focus.",
  "summary": "Autonomous teams are an article of faith in modern software development. The shape of our value determines what we can do; it determines our trade-offs between agency and coherence. We all have a purpose, and we all have agency to do something, hence the suggestion is moving from product focus to value center thinking. By Ben Linders",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}