If you’re following along, you know that I’ll be publishing a book in June! This book has been in the works since October 2021 and I’m excited to finally get it out into the world. I’ll be posting a few excerpts from my book as we lead up to the launch date. Today’s excerpt is from the book introduction. It starts with a true story about my time at National Geographic and then outlines who this book is for and why.
Feedback Wanted!
At this point, we’re still editing, so I’d love to hear feedback on these! I just switched the order of these sections. I was starting with the “Who Should Read This Book?” section but I thought the story might be a more interesting way to start.
I’d love feedback on:
- Do you like the current order of these two sections or should I switch them back?
- What do you think of the Nat Geo story? I’m trying to talk about this experience in the spirit of learning, while still emphasizing how awesome I think Nat Geo is. Does it come off that way?
So, without further ado, here is the introduction.
Introduction
My second job out of college was with a wonderful team at the National Geographic Society (“Nat Geo”). It was a fantastic experience. I worked with smart, talented people who cared about the planet. They created amazing content for both the magazine and our numerous online assets. Nat Geo as a workplace was unique in that you never knew who (or what!) you might run into in the hallways. One morning I walked in to find several blue macaws resting on a tree limb in the lobby. They were to be featured in our Explorer’s Symposium later that day. I met famous explorers in the elevator and bumped into one with his part-wolf dog in the cafeteria. We were free to watch live TEDx talks or the National Geography Bees that we’d host on an annual basis.
I also experienced the worst project of my career at National Geographic.
I was at Nat Geo from 2011 to 2014. By that time, Nat Geo had been around for over 100 years and had already had a tremendous impact on our planet. They’d successfully bridged the gap between scientific paper and popular press. When it came to print media, National Geographic had everything down. Each month, they delivered a new magazine based on the work of its vast network of explorers. It contained beautiful colored photographs and vivid stories that captured our imaginations. Their magazine opened our eyes to new cultures and helped us set eyes on the Titanic once more. I looked forward to getting my copy each month and subscribed to it as a young adult.
Yet, by the time I started at Nat Geo’s Washington, DC office in 2011, the world no longer revolved around print media. Newspapers were dying. Magazines moved online. Media outlets were struggling to install paywalls (Rapoza, 2011). National Geographic had to figure out how to pivot from print media to the digital age. They created a cable channel and several apps, but struggled to develop a cohesive digital strategy.
The team I worked with was bought by 21st Century Fox shortly after I left and later Disney in 2019 (Dang, 2018). The organization has since morphed into an effective digital team. I tell the following tale with a spirit of learning and reflection. Most companies have had similar experiences. We all learned an incredible amount from this project. Without this experience, I wouldn’t be writing this book.
This is a story about the “Membership Project”. National Geographic wanted to develop a platform that would connect members and explorers. Members could interact, watch videos, attend live sessions, and chat with explorers. It was a fantastic idea, and I was excited to see the project take off!
But it never did. What went wrong?
We worked on it for a couple of years and we spent hours on the design. It needed to be as beautiful as the magazine and then some. To my knowledge, we didn’t talk to many members, show them prototypes, or even ok most ideas with the explorers. These groups were the customers we were building for, and we didn’t get their input.
Second, we decided to use a contracted team of developers to create the platform. It was a team we’d never worked with before. We put out a request for proposal (RFP) and hired the lowest cost partner.
Third, executives assigned three Product Owners to develop the requirements for the product. Product Owners represent the customer and the business, prioritizing work for technology teams. Our three rarely agreed on details, leaving the teams to figure things out for themselves. Wires were crossed. A lot of time was wasted.
Over time, the project became late and got more attention from the executive team. We added more and more engineers so we could finish faster.
We added project scope. For example, we tried to streamline several databases into one, which was a large project on its own.
Managers left.
We weren’t delivering valuable features early and often to our customers. Instead, we worked on the platform for months before releasing a single line of code.
We had success metrics that I now know were “vanity metrics” (Ries, 2011, #). Vanity metrics are easy to gather but don’t actually measure the success of the product. Our goal was to have a million users on the site. They didn’t have to stay there and use it. They didn’t even have to be real users, it turns out. This metric was too easy to fake.
The project finished over budget and very late. Executives killed it a couple of months later.
What did I wish I’d known at that point in my career to avoid such a disaster? A lot of things, it turns out.
First, I wish I’d known how important it is, as an engineer, to understand my customers. That knowledge helps us figure out what to build. There’s nothing worse than spending time building the wrong thing.
I wish I’d known more about agile software development. For instance, how to collaborate with my teams and stakeholders. Or how to discern a well-run organization from a flailing one.
I wish I’d known how to better show up for my teams and contribute to my projects from day 1.
I’ll talk about all this and more in the coming chapters.
Who Should Read This Book?
This is a book for software engineers who are early in their careers. Perhaps you’re still a student or recently started a job with your first company. Some of you are forging your own entrepreneurial paths. Your education has prepared you well for the “coding” side of software development. You’ve learned languages, data structures, and algorithms. You’ve likely learned a bit about agile software development. But, what most engineering degrees lack is a deeper education around the “people” side of software development. What makes a team high-performing and how do you contribute to it? How do you collaborate within an organization to build great software? Who are your customers? How do you figure out what to build in the first place? What makes a company fun to work in? How do you survive and thrive on your first team?
Experienced engineers have learned answers to these questions over time. Little by little we uncover ideas that could have helped us long ago. My aim with this book is to give you these secrets now, while you’re starting out. You can use them to find excellent organizations to work for, change the ones you’re at, or build your own companies. You’ll be able to step onto high-performing teams and make an impact right away. Instead of spending years learning bad habits, you’ll start out with good ones. You’ll even learn to survive within organizations that are still figuring things out (i.e. most of them!).
With a computer science background, you can do any type of work you’d like. You can develop cutting-edge technologies to send humans to Mars. Or you can build products that clean up the earth and fight climate change. You may work for social networks, large companies, non-profits, start-ups, or research projects. Software engineers can change the world and the world could use your help right now. This book aims to help you hit the ground running at the start of your careers. Make the most of your working years and be the change you’d like to see in the world.
I hope you enjoyed this excerpt from my introduction. Stay tuned to see more of these over the next few weeks!