I think the answer is a complex mixture, in the life there is no one magic solution. There some interesting point arose in yours post First: the developer need a comfortable desktop and chair and a good tool to work this, because psychology affect work and there's nothing worst then work with horse when other work with jets.. use correct tools, not the most expensive or super-complicated, just correct and reasonably rapid. Second: the team itself is important if work in team, person work together and are not machine, have no interface, have faces… Third: a methodology, developers without clears requirement, without a protocol to ask for problem or inconsistency, without a responsible, found themselves alone in the problems affecting their works and trusting little or nothing their society. Four: automatism, working more than one year with the same tool increase productivity, don't change technology every month just because is new.. There are others point but i think are less important. bye