It seems ignorance is bliss for many in tech companies but it really doesn't matter if you're a product manager, a product marketing manager, or a product owner, there are six technical practices you should know about: Version control, Continuous integration, Automated testing, Refactoring, Simple design, and Collective code ownership. If you're in a tech role--or work with technical people-- you should understand these concepts, and make sure they're in use by your team.
(Oh, and also, you need to know the characters of Battlestar. Of course, you already know Star Trek and Star Wars.) (Plus, who Douglas Adams is.)






on the demo (positive feedback)
Chores! I'm funny about chores--like I'm a ten-year-old or something. I'm a procrastinator and my wife knows it so she praises me when I do a chore that I've been putting off. Even though I know I'm being patronized, I still like the praise.
When was the last time you praised your development team? For that matter, when was the last time you said anything positive about the product to the people who create it? Have bugs, design flaws, unhappy customers turned us into shrieking shrews?
Facebook recently passed a milestone: 10 billion photos posted online. They write:
Do you and your team celebrate successes? Or is it just one week after another of slogging through the backlog? The Friday Demo is the day to celebrate. Look what we've done, ma! The team has been working hard so make sure you take the time to appreciate what they've done. Oh, and give them a chance to give YOU praise for the customer visits you've documented and the context you've provided.
"Sandwich every bit of criticism between two layers of praise." -- Mary Kay Ash
Posted on October 16, 2008 at 02:14 PM in Industry News & Commentary, Working with Development | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)