tip: for reducing your carbon footprint by half

Take every other breath.

aagpm: is managing an internal-facing licensed application like managing a product?

Thanks again to Jeff Lash for inviting me to participate in the "ask a good product manager" project. Like Groucho, I'm suspicious about any group that would want to have me as a member, but that's another topic for another day.

When asked to comment on whether managing an internal-facing licensed application is like managing a product, I put myself into the situation of someone being asked to do this. . . which created the following "internal dialog":

“Hi, Bob, we’d like to talk to you about a product management position.”

“Terrific. Tell me about the problem the product solves in the marketplace.”

“Well, that’s a problem, because the product isn’t something we ship to customers. It’s an internal tool we license and use that helps us create the solutions we bring to market.”

“So who are my customers?”

“Our IT department. Oh, and you too, since you’d be living in IT.”

“So I’m not just the manager, I’m a user?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting. So why do you think you need a product manager?

“Because we need to balance the needs of multiple and often competing stakeholders who have an interest in what the product does.”

“And. . . as a user. . . my needs would be competing with theirs?”

“Correct.”

“Who does the development of new capabilities?”

“The vendor does.”

“And they’re balancing the needs of multiple and often competing stakeholders who have an interest in what the product does too, specifically all of their customers.”

“I guess that’s right.”

“So I can’t have any confidence that specific feature enhancements or bug fixes that our company needs will be addressed by the vendor.”

“Well, we do pay maintenance.”

“That doesn’t generally give you the ability to prioritize or force features or fixes.”

“But they’ve been very responsive.”

“I’m sure they have. So let me ask this - when you say that the job needs to balance multiple and often competing stakeholders who have an interest in the product, that refers to how the product is configured for use, and the sequence of how those configurations are integrated into the product, right?”

“That and more.”

“Would the ‘more’ include planning, definition, analysis, design, development, quality control, release, utilization and maintenance of the product?”

“Why yes, that’s a nice way of putting it.”

“OK, here’s what I’m thinking. This is a great job for an experienced IT project manager who would like to learn to be a product manager, because it requires a lot of the techniques and skills associated with being a product manager. Understanding the needs of a target market, prioritizing how you serve that market, those are PM disciplines. But the logistics of managing all of the various phases of how the application is customized. . . that’s a project management job.”

“So what do you recommend?”

“Find an experienced IT person in your company who knows the application, is a tested project manager, and introduce that person to the idea that they will be the product manager of this tool. Treat it like a product that would go to market - look for the biggest return for time invested, find out how each incremental release will align with the strategic direction of the company.”

“I think we have someone like that here already.”

“I don’t think you need a full formal PM process - just a mindset that this person is the repository of the voice of the customer, and that this person is going to be more than someone who owns the project plan. Just be careful to imbue the role with authority, so that all of the people whose interests this person needs to balance know that he or she is the ‘owner’ of the application. It’s that sense of ownership that makes someone a PM.”

“So why don’t you want the job?”

“Because the product itself is not market-facing, and because the company can’t control the resources who work on the product beyond configuring it for internal use. To a PM, those are two big strikes.”

“But you think that taking a PM approach towards managing it internally is a good idea?”

“It’s a great idea - but only if you staff it with someone who is also a capable project manager with an IT perspective on how the product will be used internally.”

"Thanks for your time, we have a lovely parting gift for you."

"You're welcome. . . . and thank you for the ham."

logo: care of typogenerator

Try as I might, the pavlovian urge to hit the regenerate button just one more time keeps tickling the hopeful part of my brain.  You know that feeling - it's the one that prevents you from being happy with the now.

quiz: identify this locomotive

Congratulations to "anonymous", your comment is correct!  This is indeed a GE C40-8W, also known as a "Dash 8".

Here's a resource you can use for the next time someone challenges to to. . .

Identify This Locomotive!

photoessay: scenes from a commute

(all photos taken with a Blackberry Pearl)

status: doing, not writing

I'm living in interesting times.

"Like that Chinese curse?"

What curse is that?

"You know.  The ancient Chinese curse.  The one that says, you know, may you live in interesting times."

That's a load of crap, it's never been proven to actually be Chinese, and besides, who asked you.

"What's with you and the attitude?  For that matter, it's been awfully quiet around here."

Quiet?  What about that hedgehog piece last week?

"I saw it on Digg and Boing Boing the same day.  No creativity required."

Or the bit on Art-o-Mat?

"Recycled."

OK, how about the bit on Starbucks buying Clover?  Or the thing about selling to the wrong buyers, that got picked up by a bunch of people.

"So you're batting 2 for 9 like Robinson Cano."

Ouch.

"What gives?"

I'm finding I'm getting a lot of satisfaction lately actually doing PM stuff.

"Cool!"

Yeah, it's been a lot of fun.

"Now we're talking.  When are you going to write about it?"

Write about it?

"Write about it.  Here."

What's there to write about?

"You know.  Stuff.  Wacky adventures.  Dodgy processes.  Self-incriminating emo rants about emotional leakage and 'practicing your craft' and 'passion is a strong tonic that should be used carefully'.   We love that stuff."

Listen, I'm just wrapped up in the doing, not the writing right now.

"Right, right.  OK, how about just a little something, then."

One what?

"One topic.  Something we can noodle over while you're off doing whatever it is you do."

Fine.  The product manager's entire job can be boiled down to two syllables.  What are they?

"Tradeshow?"

No, roadmap.  Managing the roadmap process is the single most meaningful thing a PM can do.

"OK.  Now, mix in some of that zen stuff."

What?

"Yeah!  Bring the 'three jewels of taoism' flavor to it, like a riddle wrapped in a mystery coated with taco sauce."

You're an ass.

"Alright, I'll try.  PMs need a roadmap like. . . like. . . fish need bicycles."

Vique is spinning on his longitudinal axis right now.

"What?"

Go to sleep.

new low: man uses hedgehog as weapon

I can't make stuff like this up.

A man in New Zealand has been charged with using a hedgehog as a weapon, the New Zealand Herald has reported.

Police said William Singalargh, 27, had hurled the hedgehog about 5m (16ft) at a 15-year-old boy.

"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks," said Senior Sgt Bruce Jenkins, in the North Island town of Whakatane.

It was unclear whether the hedgehog was still alive when it was thrown, though it was dead when collected as evidence.

The police spokesman said the suspect was arrested "for assault with a weapon, namely the hedgehog."

Mr Singalargh is due to appear in court on 17 April. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

And what story would be complete without insightful commentary by Digg users?

My favorite part of this article is the phrase "assault with a weapon, namely the hedgehog."

Perhaps this will be the start of a whole new internet meme - LOLHogs.

discovery: the art-o-mat

A friend of mine talked to me today about this odd machine he spotted during his travels.

"They took an old cigarette machine, cleaned it up, and now it dispenses art. It's called an Art-o-mat. Get it? Like a laundromat. But for art."

"Art?"

"Yes. Art. Five bucks for a token, you pull the rod, and the art comes out the bottom where the cigarettes would."

"Five-dollar art."

"That's not the point, a______. I read a brochure there about it. They've got a global group of artists participating in this thing. They create art, they package it up, send it to the Art-o-mat people, and then Art-o-mat distributes it to the people who host the machines. People get to choose the sort of art they want, it's cool."

"What kind of art are we talking here?"

"Jesus, Bob, I don't know. I didn't have five bucks on me at the time, so I can't tell you. But it seems like it has to come in a package about the size of a pack of cigarettes if it's going to fit into those machines."

"So you pay five bucks for a token and you get some random art in a package the size of a cigarette box."

"Yes."

"Can you see the art ahead of time?"

"No. Well, maybe on other machines, but all they had on the one I saw was a little card that described the art. And the brochure."

"So how do you know if it's any good?"

"You don't."

"What's the point then? Other than a new way to piss away five bucks."

"It's art, for chrissakes. You know, eye of the beholder stuff."

"OK, fine. Just for argument sake, if I take, say, this napkin. And this pen. And I. . .scribble on it. Like this."

"That's not art. That's a f______ mess."

"What's to say it's not art? That'll be five dollars, sucker. I'll even jam it in a little box for you."

"First of all, you're a heartless philistine. Second, as soon as you're done doodling like a mental patient, go look at their website. There's a list there of the artists who sell through these Art-o-mat machines. It's amazing to me how many creative people there are out there."

"Just because you don't like my drawing here doesn't mean it's not art."

"Not that again."

"Work with me here. Some hippy in North Carolina gets it in her head to become an artist. She sits down, blasts off a prototype of some sort to see if she has a future in cigarette pack-sized art distribution."

"What's your point."

"So let's say, wow, stars align, she gets accepted. I bet she has to sit down and churn out some serious volumes of her so-called art."

"Seems right."

"Does she make all of the same thing? Because that's not art anymore, it's an assembly-line."

"If they're handmade, no, they're not all the same. Maybe they're variations. On a theme. And maybe she's like Andy Warhol. The guy with the Factory."

"Whatever. So let's say that our Tarheel hippy lady sits down and knocks out, say, fifty pieces of mini-art. She packages them up in little boxes, sends them off to Art-o-mat central."

"You're going somewhere with this, right?"

"Yeah. What happens then?"

"Well. . .I would imagine she gets paid. Sooner or later."

"How much?"

"Some portion of the five dollars, I guess."

"Now we're getting somewhere. Say her take of each unit is half the ASP."

"You really are a bastard, aren't you. You were never like this when you were younger, you know."

"Stay on topic. Half is pretty generous, actually. So for her trouble, she grosses $125. Then she has to declare taxes on that and cover materials and shipping. Let's say she nets $80, just for giggles. How long would you say it takes her to actually collect this money?"

"Who knows. Probably when it sells."

"When it sells. So it could be months."

"Or never. What's your point?"

"My point is. . .is it any wonder artists are all starving? This is the most f_____ up transaction I've heard of in years. She covers the cost of manufacturing, shipping to the distributor, then she waits for God-knows-how-long to get paid $80 bucks. It sounds like WalMart."

"It's art."

"And that's supposed to make it OK?"

"Yes."

"Well, paint me red and call me Sally. I just don't get it."

"You wouldn't. It's an amazing thing, this Art-o-mat. It spreads a lot of joy around to a lot of people, it gives artists whose work might not normally get shared a way to share it, and it's an awesome looking machine too. If I had a store, I'd host one of them in a heartbeat. They're kinda like those Japanese gachapon machines."

"Are those art too?"

"Shut up."