When I caught up with John Durrant, we ended up talking about something that doesn’t often come up in leadership conversations — how work actually flows between different roles and departments in tech teams.

Over the years, I’ve seen plenty of frameworks come and go: RAD, Waterfall, Agile, Product-Led, Platform, Stream-Aligned. Each one aims to make teams faster and more collaborative. But what really shapes outcomes isn’t just the framework it’s how people interact, depend on each other, and keep things moving.

When that flow works, the work moves easily. When it doesn’t, the energy fades not because people aren’t trying, but because the system itself isn’t built to support flow.

Maybe sustainable leadership starts with noticing where that flow breaks down, and what gets in the way of people doing great work together.