How to work with engineers

Ignite talk from #productsf in April 2013. See the full essay version here:

https://www.kennethnorton.com/essays/how-to-work-with-software-engineers.html

Transcript

1. work with engineers
   HOW TO
   Ken Norton
   Google, Inc.
   kennethnorton.com @kennethn
   

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2. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
   MY SECRET
   10 STEP
   PLAN
   

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3. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
   GREATEST PRODUCT MANAGERS IN HISTORY
   Insanely Great
   Steve Jobs
   Greatly Insane
   Nick Machiavelli Ken Norton
   Great, Just Great
   PHOTO OF STEVE JOBS BY MATT BUCHANAN, PHOTO OF ME BY ADE OSHINEYE
   

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4. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
   WHY YOU CARE WHAT I SAY
   20
   Years Engineers
   3,875,000
   Listened
   95%
   Engineers did
   what I told
   them to do
   MORE THAN
   1,000,000
   

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5. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
   “Great work!”
   “Awesome!”
   “Congrats!”
   “I shipped it!
   “Single-handedly!”
   “My vision!”
   EXECUTIVE YOU
   ABSORB PRAISE 1
   

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6. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
   Blame!
   Blame!
   Blame!
   YOU
   ENGINEER
   ENGINEER
   ENGINEER
   DEFLECT BLAME
   TIP: Never Apologize
   2
   

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7. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
   WE
   There is no
   ME
   in
   “ ”
   

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8. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
   BLAH
   BLAH
   YOU
   ENGINEER
   ENGINEER
   BLAH
   BLAH
   BLAH
   BLAH
   TIP: Knowledge
   leads to
   disappointment
   DO NOT BOTHER WITH DETAILS 3
   

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9. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
   Ideation Planning Launch
   Thinking Coding
   2013
   FEB APR 1
   MAR APR 5
   JAN
   INVOLVE THEM LATE
   RIGHT ABOUT HERE.
   4
   

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10. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
    SHOW VALUE BY ADDING PROCESS 5
    Weekly Round-the-room
    Tracking spreadsheet
    Cross-functional
    Just checking in
    Daily briefing
    Status reports
    Friendly ping!
    Bug tracker
    Voicemail
    2.
    3.
    1.
    

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11. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
    WTF?
    TIP: The air of mystery will
    keep them on their toes
    NEVER TELL THEM THE REASONS 6
    

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12. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
    We sign up...
    to ship
    in 2 weeks...
    with all
    features!
    MAKE COMMITMENTS FOR THEM 7
    TIP: Being held accountable to somebody
    else’s promises builds character
    

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13. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
    TIP: whatever they’re working
    on is less important than
    what you need right now
    YOU
    ENGINEER
    ENGINEER
    ENGINEER
    INTERRUPT AT ANY TIME 8
    

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14. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
    TIP: Feel free to change your
    mind at will, just don’t
    tell anyone when you do
    YOU
    YOUR CAREER
    ENGINEERS, USERS, ETC.
    BE AMBIGUOUS 9
    

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15. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
    Total lies
    White lies
    Overt lies Subtle lies
    THEY ARE ALWAYS LYING 10
    TIP: There’s no such thing
    as “technical debt,” just
    engineering excuses
    

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16. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
    1. Absorb praise
    2. Deflect blame
    3. Don’t bother with details
    4. Involve them late
    5. Add process
    6. Never tell the reasons
    7. Commit for them
    8. Interrupt at any time
    9. Be ambiguous
    10.They’re always lying
    

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17. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
    NO
    

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18. KEN NORTON @KENNETHN
    1. Deflect praise
    2. Absorb blame
    3. Sweat the details
    4. Involve them early
    5. Streamline process
    6. Always tell the reasons
    7. Never commit without them
    8. Respect their time
    9. Be specific
    10.Trust them
    

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19. PHOTO BY PHIL KING.
    BRING THE DONUTS 11
    

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20. Ken Norton
    @kennethn
    Find this talk:
    kennethnorton.com/engineers
    THIS WORK BY KEN NORTON IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION 3.0 UNPORTED LICENSE
    SPECIAL THANKS TO: ANAND RANGARAJAN, ANDREW OPLINGER, DYLAN SALISBURY, JORDANNA CHORD,
    JOSEPH SMARR, MIKE CARRATO, PATRICK DOYLE, AND PHILIP TUCKER. DONUTS ARE ON ME.
    

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