Jobs' harsh criticism reminded me instantly of the 2003 email from Bill Gates trashing Windows Movie Maker, the Microsoft.com website, etc. [1] It also reminde

Jobs' harsh criticism reminded me instantly of the 2003 email from Bill Gates trashing Windows Movie Maker, the Microsoft.com website, etc. [1] It also reminded me of presentations I've given that have "gotten out of hand". I've found it's nearly impossible to direct a meeting like that--smart, intense people will not be led along the carefully crafted golden path you lay out for their time. In Tim Adams' shoes, you may find yourself frustrated answering interruptive questions that are answered clearly in your deck, spec document, etc. After much experience with this, I've found that if you can give a sensible answer to the question, and after the answer is accepted, just say "... and that's in the document on page X", people are generally pleased with that. If they point out a loophole, gap, etc. in your design, "we will call that out" or "we'll add that immediately" can get you moving along again. The "did you read the entire deck" question was funny. (Could that possibly work?? :-P) [1] http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/2008/06/24/full-text-an-epic-bill-gates-e-mail-rant/ http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/2008/06/24/full-text-an-...