Comments on: Google’s 9 Principles of innovation

By: Culture Change | The WorkNET

Culture Change | The WorkNET — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:24:26 +0000

[...] Google’s 9 Principles of Innovation [...]

By: dennis sellinger

dennis sellinger — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:03:51 +0000

While I would agree that it would be nice to have decisions based on “data”, we must not think that this “data” will come easily. Check out the discussion on quantitative project management in IEEE Software, May/June 2008 and a discussion of quantitative v.s. qualitative quality measures in the IEEE Software 2008 March/April.

I think “data” is only useful when the cost of collecting the data is appropriate in the context of the decisions being made with it.

Data must also be properly interpreted (Disraeli: There are lies, damn lies - and statistics.) And educated people should never be afraid of questioning interpretation of data.

So, just because we don’t like endless discussions by “experts”, I think there is still a lot of room for design and implementation discussion that is based on “experience” rather than on pure numbers. E.g. can a benchmark show that an application is “fast enough” or does some just have to try to use it?

My point is that while hard numbers are good and desirable, they enable discussions, rather than replacing them.

By: dr/rone/di/kristu

dr/rone/di/kristu — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:00:39 +0000

Nice article. :)

To me the point is not “I like” vs. data-based work. The point is that the “I like” argument must be backed up by many “I likes”: “we like”.

Decision making is a number’s game. ;)

By: Ivan

Ivan — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:14:06 +0000

100 shades of blue = creativity definitely.

By: CHAN KJ

CHAN KJ — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:18:05 +0000

Arguments based on personal preferences and not data is bound to heat up any discussion. Exactly. This is dedicated to my Project Manager. It’s a slight deviance from “I LIKE” and probably a cousin which is “I FEEL”. My project manager is absolutely inept when he said “I feel this web apps is slow when loading” using his guts feeling. He was banished out of the meeting room immediately shortly after.
1) he is incapable of backing his statement with profiling and benchmarking.
2) He has forgotten the project triangle. Good,Cheap,Fast Choose Two.