Before I worked in software, I studied microbial communities: billions of organisms that survive not as individuals, but by cooperating, sharing and specialising. It turns out they have a lot to teach us about teams.

In this talk I'll take a handful of real concepts from microbiology, such as keystone species, quorum sensing, cross-feeding and functional redundancy, and explore what they reveal about how software teams succeed, struggle and recover. Why do some teams collapse when one person leaves? Why do diverse teams cope better with disruption? And why do some people only thrive in the right community?

No biology background needed. You'll leave with a fresh way of looking at your team, and practical ideas for making it more resilient.