Metaphors are one starting point to me. The way we think is often restricted or enhanced by the words we use. Taking a new term and its implications changes our view of the world, and changes the world.
Sure, a metaphor is not the real thing, but if it has an effect, how can you tell?
For some years now I have been taking a medical metaphor to a software development world. Is craftmanship also a metaphor? And what about arts - do we have to become artists, or would seeing the metaphor already change our world?
Being member of an ambitious choir, I have experienced team building and training in a slightly different environment. Music has its own properties. Most important, it is time dependent. It is only happening in the now. Second, the performance is public and seems to be all there is, but growth is in the rehearsal.
How this relates to software? Here are a few ideas.
The team is where software is being done. The creation of software is in the now, not anytime else. Growth is in the team process - oops, here it breaks. Is doing the software a performance, or the rehearsal?
Decades ago a teacher said that the most enjoyable about music are the breaks. Today I am aware that he was probably referring to my talent, but at that time he was the first to direct me to the transient nature of music. Here, music is considerably different from other arts. It leaves no artifacts, except for in the memory of listeners.
So when we try to combine arts and science, should we consider music?