Virtual, Smirtual: Is lack of project team face-time hurting your project?

IBM’s Dr. David Ferrucci David Ferrucci was assigned a great project: build a computer smart enough to beat grand champions at the game of “Jeopardy.” So, when his bosses at IBM asked him to do it, my guess is he was really excited and new it was going to be the project of a lifetime. He knew finding the right team members was going to be challenging. After all the scientists he needed tended to be in the world of “publish or perish” and they were reluctant to join a “team” when they generally preferred working solo. But he was persistent and presented them with a choice: spend the rest of your career publishing research results from solitary activities, or engage in building technology that could literally transform computing. Twelve folks stepped forward willing to take the plunge, a team which ultimately grew to 25 members. Ferrucci realized early on that he needed to change the way these scientists would work.