'Less Mass' = faster moving teams

I think Jason, from 37 Signals is having an epiphany. He is touching on some ideas which are well established in the agile community. And as an observer from the outside of both parties, I like what I hear.

Getting Real: Less Mass is Jason's most recent post on this subject, and he is onto something.

Unfortunately though, coming from a 'lightweight' group of developers, who can move quickly (and are often asked to move very quickly), it is very hard to work with a 'heavyweight' team of developers or organisation whose processes, technology and culture prevent the expediency required to move with trends; it's like trying motivate a stubborn burdened mule with up a hill.

To my mind there is another aspect to this which involves account management / middle management and their ability to understand this problem. Management from either lightweight or heavyweight teams will need to have a strong understanding of the strengths of their respective teams and exploit their strengths appropriately.

Is this too cryptic, drop me a line and let me know.