When you build a structure, you need to spend time on getting the foundation right. I know this first-hand building my office in the backyard.

The reason is obvious though: you can't build anything without a foundation. And you can't cut corners.

Building a level foundation means everything built on top of it will be level too.

What's the foundation of a successful business/org/team? Trust. When trust is present, you can build something that lasts on top of it.

You build trust the same way you build your house – incrementally, by checking at each stage whether things are level, plumb, and measured correctly. If things are out of alignment, you fix it before moving onto the next stage. If you don't, it causes a butterfly effect of problems down the road.

Without trust, you end up with a crooked house. Developers don't trust the marketing team, sales doesn't trust marketing, people are micromanaging, there's a culture of blame, and every decision is agonizing – if it even gets made at all. You cannot expect an effective DevRel program to be successful with context like this – it requires cross-functional teamwork.

Nobody wants to spend time as a character in Game of Thrones: DevRel Edition.

How do you fix a broken foundation? Well, it depends on the extent of the damage. It costs a lot – but it costs more to replace your house when it falls down.

Coaching, mentoring, facilitating, these can all help teams repair the trust but only if they really want to change.

Have a lovely day,
Kamran