Being Geek

Chapter 31. Bits, Features, and Truth

There’s a meeting going on right now. It’s a cross-functional meeting, which means that not only are multiple departments in the organization represented, but also multiple expertise types, attitudes, and agendas. The cross-functional nature of this meeting means a program manager is present, and she is likely serving in her role as translator.

See, good program managers speak all the regional dialects of the company, so when engineering says, “It’s done,” they jump right in and translate, “Done pending function testing, production testing, and final documentation review,” so that product management doesn’t tell sales, “It’s done,” and they start selling something that actually isn’t done.

In this well-attended, multilingual meeting, a decision is on the table, and it’s a decision that’s happening in every single software company right this second. It’s not really a decision, it’s a negotiation, but it’s on the table, and people are tense because this decision is under heavy scrutiny:

Product management: “What’s it going to take get this feature done?”

Program management: “What he’s asking is....”

Engineering: “Quiet, I know what he’s asking. The answer is, do you want to sacrifice TIME, QUALITY, or FEATURES?”

Program management: “What HE’s....”

Product management: “Yeah, I’ve heard this before, and I still want it all.”

More talking. More translating. Action items are assigned, which gives everyone the illusion that progress was made. And we all return ...