Top 10 lies of engineers from Guy Kawasaki

The blogosphere is buzzing today with hundreds of reactions to Guy Kawasaki’s post on the top lies of engineers. It’s funny that there is such a gulf between the business and engineering side of software development — and this gulf tends to get larger after each unsuccessful product release.

I respect developers and their patience. I’ve tried to code. I just get too frustrated and want to get back to creating stories, pictures, and selling. I still find it amazing that strings of text with all types of variables compiled into a software program can look so cool and do anything.

Lies, and damn lies, certainly exists on both sides of the business. In my experience, it’s mostly partial truths and cloaked information that cause the most pain and frustration. Telling only part of the story to developers about a customer or market can really be damaging to trust and relationships. Hearing only part of the reality of the development status can drive a wedge between marketing and engineering.

April 28, 2006 | Filed Under Work Life

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One Response to “Top 10 lies of engineers from Guy Kawasaki”

  1. Scott Baldwin on May 23rd, 2006 4:10 pm

    Have you read Guy’s “The Art of the Start”? I loved it. I thought the final chapter on paying it forward was surprising given the nature of the VC world.