Book Notes

I've been reading three books simultaneously: Intelligence Analysis by Robert M. Clark, The Geek Gap by Bill Pfleging and Minda Zetlin, and Whose Bible Is It? by Jaroslav Pelikan.

All three touch on information understanding -- Intelligence Analysis focuses on new ways our intelligence community can better share informaiton, The Geek Gap focuses on the gaps in communication between "geeks" and "suits", and Whose Bible Is It? focuses on how the Bible has changed through translation and technology.

But today, I'm focusing on an element of The Geek Gap that struck me as I read it at lunch today.

The Geek Gap reminded me that creators of technology see their "product" as art, laboriously created with love in an intricate process. For those of us tasked with sometimes killing (or changing) products for business reasons, it can often seem inscrutable as to why engineers take these changes so seriously. But when you look at the lines of code as carefully placed brushstrokes, it becomes even more imperative to make sure that what you have asked the engineer to paint is what you really want. And it's equally imperative to specify the audience, mood, and subject of the portrait, but then to trust the artist (engineer) to create in the order s/he sees fit, and to shape the brushstrokes in their own ways.

I can't tell you how many product managers I have seen who insist that, in effect, the face be painted first, then the arms, then the background, and who insist on micromanaging the engineering team as to whether this exact shade of red is the right one. One needs to trust in the artist (engineer) to do what will fullfill your original specification and that the picture will come out all right in the end.

What we, as product managers must do, is to help the engineer by explaining our audience. "We need a portrait of a young lady, completed by the end of the year. It will go in an elegant salon frequented by all ages, from children to grandmothers. We want people to see how gentle the lady is, and we want them to come away from viewing the portrait feeling happy and calm. There is another portrait in the room which is primarily painted in shades of blue. You can see a picture of that portrait here. We've also found out that most of the people who will be looking at the painting have a distinct dislike of Picasso. They find his work jarring and unharmonious."

Just as in painting, you shouldn't switch painters around midstream (imagine Picasso being asked to complete a piece by Raphael! Both very good painters, but you won't get the results you expected). You shouldn't complain in the middle of the project that you don't like blondes, or that now you think an old man should be the subject. And you shouldn't hang out every day fretting that a particular shadow looks off, or that the background looks muddy. Wait, trust, and see what happens.