A metaphor heard when planning is being done at the same time as execution. Hey - actually planning and replanning is a continuous activity - this metaphor is heard when there isn't a single grain of planning in evidence and everyone's just working on the seat of their pants (particularly painful during taxiing and takeoff...). … Continue reading Crap tech industry metaphors: 6 Building the plane as it’s going down the runway
Category: Crap metaphors
This is one I've heard a lot. Someone tells you the company line? They've been drinking the Kool-Aid. Someone off message? They've not been drinking enough. The way it's used, most folk seem to think that the Kool-Aid is some sort of psychedelic drug that makes you fall in line. The truth behind the … Continue reading Crap tech industry metaphors: 5 Drinking the Kool-Aid
The term "Rockstar" is used a lot in the tech industry. "Rockstar" developers; "Rockstar" CEOs; "Rockstar" Games (oh - actually I'll let that one off. They've been quite successful.) What a load of baloney. Rockstar is a metaphor to indicate what, exactly? Petulance? Arrogance? An inability to work creatively with others? Bad personal hygiene? Cocaine … Continue reading Crap Tech Industry Metaphors: 4. Rockstars
Continuing the theme whilst I'm off on holiday... Now this one is all Apple's fault. In the old days there were files and directories on MS-DOS and the same in Unix. Then Apple got all fancy pants with MacOS and started talking about Documents and Folders (which to be fair to them, is slightly more … Continue reading Crap Tech Industry Metaphors: 3. Files and Folders
Whilst I'm off optimistically sunning myself in South Wales, I thought I'd get a few more of these rubbish metaphors off my chest. Second up - the concept of "Dogfooding", aka "Eating your own dogfood", aka running beta tests of new products amongst one's own staff before putting in front of real customers. Where, exactly, … Continue reading Crap Tech Industry Metaphors: 2. Dogfooding
If you read this blog with any regularity, you'll know I'm a bit of a metaphor junkie: the name itself stems from that love, and I've even performed on stage extolling their virtues. Now with analogy there is always a risk that one will descend into Swiss Toni territory, where using metaphor, analogy and simile … Continue reading Crap Tech Industry Metaphors: 1. Breadcrumb Trails
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