[ctdonath]

Such a situation may enhance the issue the author addresses, but his point remains paramount: don't expect what you don't inspect. If anything, hiring "mercenaries half-way around the world" requires more of what he enumerates, which is the objectively practical form of, as you say, "do a lot to create real human connection".

[wpietri]

Requiring unit tests is a great idea, and I am 100% behind using the techniques she describes, but it's not the real human connection I'm talking about.

One of the best distributed teams I know spends a week per month together despite the travel nightmare that entails. Another reasonably good remote project had the product manager spending 1-2 weeks every 6 weeks with the development team. Having developers participate in user tests is also great, as is finding some way for them or their friends to become actual users of the product.

If the developers don't give a shit about you or your users, you'll have to do a lot more inspecting than if they are personally fired up to make things work for people they care about.