I too think that cross-training is important and everyone’s goal should be the betterment of the project. Because when resources are tight, where do you make the cuts? If everyone is fighting for their turf rather than looking at things holistically, then the project suffers.

I tend to think of this in two simple ways. One way is to look at it in terms of brand. Whatever action you take (or don’t take) hurts or helps the brand. I’m always trying to figure out how to make the brand value go up.

The other is to think of a project in terms of its functionality and its aesthetic. If you imagined the words “functionality” and “aesthetic” as circles in a Venn diagram, then you would want them to intersect as much as possible – because that’s where the money is – that’s where real value is created. Awesome gestalt sort of things start to happen at that intersection. And in order to get there, you have to have empathy for the people and ideas in the “other” circle.