Author: Melih O.

I had an absolutely superb meeting today with someone on the team about the tidal wave that has swept product development – data.

We talked a lot about how it has become a must have skill set in the Valley, and where we land on that scale (read: way behind). I kept the conversation going in my head tonight, and it really has forced me to ask where as a team we need intuition and where we need to be data driven.

So I did what any logical person would do, and I hopped on Quora to see what others have asked, and what answers have been given.

I think one of the benefits of Quora is also a bit of a downfall. Folks get requested to answer a question, which brings experts to the topic. BUT. It tends to bring a very specific answer set as well. In this regard, I got inundated by religious zealots swearing that there was only one way, that way was data, and Reis was his prophet (ok, I made the last piece up, but you get the idea). There are few folks who defend intuition because it has no tangible way to prove success. Much the opposite, there are way too many failure cases to the contrary.

So Quora failed me.

Instead, I dove deep into our platform, and came out the other side realizing that we need to be is an intuition based team where data acts as the final scorecard. Our intuition used to just come from gut, but today we have enough customers that we can soft test anything. Further, the leaps of faith are quickly becoming hops, and on the horizon will be even less contentious. Why? Because first customers will say they need it, and then we can prove they use it.

And yet the big ticket item of what and where is still a task for our imaginations. I like that. A lot.

This blog post is a ramble more than a thought, but nonetheless I’m really excited about our product development future. Numbers and prayers both have a big part to play.

We’ve just stated a new weekly lunch event on the product team where we pick a relevant topic and jam on it. We talked about a new strategy at one, and design process at the one today. It’s an attempt to cross pollinate across the team best practices, new ideas, road map pitches, and the like.

One challenge in the office is that we’re grouped into teams, but that doesn’t guarantee that we’re working together towards a common goal. Sometimes the issue is opaqueness, and sometimes poor communication. Not enough time to coordinate, a lack of context, or even an inability to relate all lead to an inability to align.

But I just don’t buy it. We have common customers, and a common end goal. Within that we’ve got to find a way to create a common language. And that’s the goal of these lunches.

I hope that in three months time our designers have a clear vision of the platform and how they’re shaping it.

I hope that the larger team has a better visual of what we’re building because we become better storytellers.

And I hope that these exchanges become a high point of everyone’s week.

Because the best part of being a team is winning together, and I think this will help get us there.

I wrote this as a note to someone special earlier this week, and I really like the message. I’ve decided to share it in an edited format here.

Folks leave.

It’s sad because it feels like somehow the system failed. But we don’t think that about death. When someone dies, we create room for someone new to be born who brings a newer, and hopefully better, perspective to who we are, what we do, and how we do it.

Death’s inevitability gives us a reprieve. And yet even without death everything comes to an end – inevitably. Hitting streaks, consecutive quarters of profitability, periods of peace – none can last forever.

In a static system, there is neither death nor birth. Culture can become static. Endings act as a wake up call that we cannot be static. The lesson is to not hang on to being what we were, but, instead, create an energy to become.

Part of the journey is starting to let go, and letting the culture be carried by others. The others will do a great job because we choose them, and make sure they do. The actors who see that transition, and decide it’s not for them make the best choice for all in leaving.

The end game doesn’t change. But we do.