Someone at the "Shu" level of learning (they have not yet mastered the fundamentals) should probably follow a methodology or at least a process. This is because they do not yet have the experience to know how best to apply techniques situationally.

I think that moving from a more structured approach (methodology) to a less structured approach (tricks) should follow from experience.

So, once a person feels that they have mastered a process, then they probably have the experience to know when to follow the process and when to use the techniques in a different way.

Someone who has mastered the techniques can event their own ("tricks" in this vernacular).

All too often people skip ahead to inventing their own path when they do not yet understand the basics. By the same token, it doesn't necessarily make sense for someone with a lot of experience to dogmatically follow a methodology.

I suspect that the most successful teams use the least strict approach because they are the teams that have the experience to do so. I would bet the least successful teams also use the least strict approach – but without sufficient experience.

Really good article.