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> Build around people problems, not company problems This is so hard to fight for. I worked on a feature for our product where we leverage a UI component initi
by charles_f 5y ago
> Build around people problems, not company problems
This is so hard to fight for. I worked on a feature for our product where we leverage a UI component initially built to show ML recommendations, but to surface hard coded recommendations made by our partner's software, not coming from AI but hard coded. These recommendations are contextually sound because the devs _know_ what is possible given the context, which for all intents and purposes makes them much, much more relevant than anything that would come from an ML model. But for the life of them the other team will not let us use this UI because they're afraid that it might tarnish the opinion people have of their AI. So we're in this situation where the user would greatly benefit from a consistent UI, the partners as well, but because that team is afraid it will dilute their baby, we can't do it.
Had similar examples where 3 months in designinga feature it becomes clear that it doesn't fit with users, that a simpler solution would be better, but designers and PMs will take a hard stance that it's how we planned it and now is too late to change it even if dev hasn't even started.
Between sunk cost and babies, it's hard to forget our own interest in favor of our users.
- the_gipsy 5y ago> sunk cost and babies It’s not that they (middle managers) are stupid. It’s political. KPIs and objectives and individual careers are misaligned or work against what is good for the user and ultimately, good for the company. Blame the CxOs.
- charles_f 5y agoYeah that's absolutely true, things get done not because it's the right thing but because it will reflect or benefit people. If you create wrong incentives you'll get the wrong behaviors in return.
- specialist 5y agoConway's Law in action. You have my sympathy and condolences. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway's_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway's_law FWIW, Tesla seems to be more willing to shake the ant farm. The tear downs and comparisons with other EVs are instructive. Tesla's octovalve, heat pumps, gigacasting, and I'm sure a dozen other things, just wouldn't happen (didn't happen) elsewhere. One blocker was functional silos. Maybe it takes a tyrant like Elon Musk to dare the things Deming, Drucker, Goldratt, and others were proscribing. Or external, existential threat. Like Churchill said about America: They always do the right thing, after first trying everything else. In my experience, the only times I've successfully busted silos, the circumstances were dire and everyone else had given up. Other times were much less successful.