Another thing you see with software developed by large teams: No one takes ownership. Think about it-- How many people who worked on Vista say, "Wow-- Vista SUCKS. And I feel responsible." My guess is NONE. Instead, they all say, "Vista sucks. I did the best I could to make it NOT suck, but I just couldn't make a big enough difference."
The rare examples of big-team success that you say invariably have a big ego (benevolent or not) at the top who has a sense of ownership (Steve Jobs? Linus?).
If everyone on the project has the attitude of "This is MY baby and you will NOT fuck it up," you can build great things. If no one does (the most common state on software teams), you almost certainly cannot.
The rare examples of big-team success that you say invariably have a big ego (benevolent or not) at the top who has a sense of ownership (Steve Jobs? Linus?).
If everyone on the project has the attitude of "This is MY baby and you will NOT fuck it up," you can build great things. If no one does (the most common state on software teams), you almost certainly cannot.