Is it ready?

Ever pulled burgers off the grill, only to discover the centers were not really cooked?

It looked right. Smelled right. The timing seemed close enough. So you trusted your instincts.

Hopefully you cut into one before you served them.

In the old days — say three years ago — when developing new technology, the communication process would allow you to avoid such surprises.

Socialization, communication, feedback, when done correctly, meant you had a high degree of confidence in the likely outcomes. Of course, there would still be surprises. There are always surprises, it seems. But they would be of the “minor delay” type of surprise, not the “this system will never work” surprise.

In those ancient times, you could often tell something about a product’s maturity from external signals. You still had to check under the hood, but it was more of a cursory check — you could trust the process. Again, to be clear, there was no guarantee that it worked well, or that it was well designed, or that it would sell. You could at least have confidence that the team had made good decisions underneath.

Making something look good and work well, across a wide range of real situations, took time and effort. The path to delivery involved designers, engineers, testers, product people, and feedback from a lot of people who were never listed in the product org chart. There were a million small decisions that most users would never notice, yet still had an impact on the product.

I’ve spent my whole career building processes and teams to get this balance right.

And now?

I can generate something that looks good in an hour or three. Works pretty well in just a few days. A demo can feel complete before the data, process, security, support, governance, and operating model have caught up. You could pitch it, and likely sell it, based on the demo alone.

And what is under the hood?

Anyone’s guess.

Here’s the twist.

This is an amazing opportunity.

For the first time, perhaps ever, we have true user-driven design. We have feedback from people actually doing the work, saying “Yes, this is what I want! This is exactly how I want to work.”

Is this a disaster waiting to happen?

Potentially. But it is also an opportunity. A massive opportunity. Right now, you have a multitude of people discovering that they can ask for what they want and get it. They are learning to ask better, more precisely, because they get what they ask for (a topic for another article).

The product gap is closing.

I’ll say that again. The gap, between what users think they want, and what they actually want, is closing in real time before our eyes. Because they can see the impact of requests and changes for themselves, directly, and learn from the process.

And how are we technologists responding?

We’re freaking out.

We’re talking about technical debt. Security risks. Corrupted data. Misinterpreted data. Shadow IT. A dark, noisy future.

And rightfully so.

These things are real. The people raising these concerns know who will be asked to clean up the mess. To put in long hours, fixing and reviewing code, cleaning data, patching and recovering hacked systems.

Worse, these people know that their warnings are falling on deaf ears, and are powerless to do anything about it. Users, who have spent their entire careers trying to get what they want, over and over, only to get half of what they wanted, are suddenly getting everything they want.

Another feature? Sure! Why not. Let’s take two. Features for everyone!

No one wants to hear about technical debt.

So what do we do?

What successful organizations have always done.

Take a step back. A deep breath or two would be good. Figure out what is needed. Take inventory. Make a strategy. Collect input. Prioritize.

And then work, systematically, to do the work that needs to be done, with the capacity and the capabilities you have, based on the priorities you agreed upon.

Those capabilities changed, virtually overnight, but business didn’t. The bottlenecks have shifted, changed form, changed shape. It is up to us to take this into account, to learn, adapt, and grow. And arguably, it is now easier than ever before.

For the technologists, take time to connect with the users’ newfound interests in technology. They need you more than ever.

And for the users who have just been empowered, take a moment to realize that the superficial appearance is not the whole story.

If you just got a brand new grill, check your burgers before you serve them.