-
work with engineersHOW TO
Ken NortonGoogle, Inc.
kennethnorton.com @kennethn
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
MY SECRET 10 STEP PLAN
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
GREATEST PRODUCT MANAGERS IN HISTORY
Insanely Great
Steve JobsGreatly Insane
Nick Machiavelli Ken NortonGreat, Just Great
PHOTO OF STEVE JOBS BY MATT BUCHANAN, PHOTO OF ME BY ADE
OSHINEYE
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
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
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
Great work!
Awesome!
Congrats!
I shipped it!
Single-handedly!
My vision!
EXECUTIVE YOU
ABSORB PRAISE 1
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
Blame!Blame!Blame!
YOUENGINEER
ENGINEER
ENGINEER
DEFLECT BLAME
TIP: Never Apologize
2
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
WEThere is noMEin
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
BLAH
BLAH
YOUENGINEERENGINEER
BLAHBLAH
BLAHBLAH
TIP: Knowledge leads to disappointment
DO NOT BOTHER WITH DETAILS 3
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
Ideation Planning Launch
Thinking Coding2013
FEB APR 1
MAR APR 5JAN
INVOLVE THEM LATE
RIGHT ABOUT HERE.
4
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
SHOW VALUE BY ADDING PROCESS 5Weekly Round-the-roomTracking
spreadsheetCross-functionalJust checking inDaily briefingStatus
reportsFriendly ping!Bug trackerVoicemail
2 .
3 .1 .
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
WTF?
TIP: The air of mystery will keep them on their toes
NEVER TELL THEM THE REASONS 6
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
We sign up... to ship in 2 weeks...with all features!
MAKE COMMITMENTS FOR THEM 7
TIP: Being held accountable to somebody elses promises builds
character
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
TIP: whatever theyre working on is less important than what you
need right now
YOUENGINEER
ENGINEER
ENGINEER
INTERRUPT AT ANY TIME 8
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
TIP: Feel free to change your mind at will, just dont tell
anyone when you do
YOU
YOUR CAREER
ENGINEERS, USERS, ETC.
BE AMBIGUOUS 9
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
Total liesWhite lies
Overt lies Subtle lies
THEY ARE ALWAYS LYING 10
TIP: Theres no such thing as technical debt, just engineering
excuses
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
1. Absorb praise2. Deflect blame3. Dont bother with details4.
Involve them late5. Add process
6. Never tell the reasons7. Commit for them8. Interrupt at any
time9. Be ambiguous10.Theyre always lying
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
NO
-
K E N N O R T O N @ K E N N E T H N
1. Deflect praise2. Absorb blame3. Sweat the details4. Involve
them early5. Streamline process
6. Always tell the reasons7. Never commit without them8. Respect
their time9. Be specific10.Trust them
-
PHOTO BY PHIL KING.
BRING THE DONUTS 11
-
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.
