Spotify’s Failed #SquadGoals

This critical analysis by Jeremiah Lee exposes the fundamental flaws in Spotify's widely-copied squad model, revealing four key problems: matrix management issues with unclear accountability, excessive team autonomy without proper alignment, lack of defined cross-team collaboration processes, and assumptions about teams' collaboration skills without providing adequate coaching. Engineering leaders will learn why 'control without competence is chaos' and understand that successful organizational models require deliberate skill development, clear processes, and thoughtful adaptation rather than blind copying of trendy frameworks.