There is a secret (not actually that well kept) in high tech: the real technology in a technology company is virtually opaque to all but a few serious geeks embedded deep in an organizational structure. As a result, technology managers are faced with an extraordinary communications challenge. We must keep an almost non-technical crowd sufficiently well informed of the actual technology for them to fulfill their roles as employees, contractors, suppliers and even customers, while not requiring every one of them to have advanced technical skill.
I have often wished that everyone had a BS degree in computer science. Yes, everyone. That would simplify the communication tasks associated with explaining new features to the market, no? Of course, not everyone can have the same education in any field, and it is not only a fantasy to want it, but in many ways it is also a cop out. Even though the communication burden is sometimes heavy, it is our job as technology managers to translate technology without demanding that everyone we talk to have technical degrees in our own fields.
Since few outside each of our fields actually understand what we do, we need to seek powerful metaphors that bridge any gaps in understanding. Choosing an effective metaphor for the technology in your company will dramatically amplify your ability to communicate to non-technical audiences. But choose carefully, since it is possible that the power of the metaphor you choose could lead to misunderstandings as well.
Metaphor is powerful
One of the simplest metaphors used in computer science is a highway. It is reasonable to analogize bits and bytes of information as cars and trucks on a highway. The number of cars that can travel safely on a highway without causing congestion is known to civil engineers, and is presumed to be known by everyday people traveling in cars. Some of the limits are obvious… the cars should not overlap, for example. If communications technologists tell people that the Internet is a superhighway with a variety of entry and exit ramps, they sort of get it. But if we talk about OSPF Routing over TCP/IP at scalable bandwidth from DC-3 to OC-12, most people will glaze over. The alphabet soup might be more accurate, but it is useless to most audiences. If conversation degenerates to the various modulation and demodulation technologies possible on different physical media that allow us to pack bps more densely than the baud rate, most people will leave the room. Accuracy is not the same as efficacy.
If, as we explore greater communications efficiencies on the same physical media, rather than presenting the technical details to broad audiences, we tell people that more kids in more schools will be able to access the information superhighway for lower tolls, people in general will be able to envision a shrinking gap between the technology haves and the technology have-nots. Progress will be made. The metaphor is productive.
Beware the power
Many people have used the metaphor of a community when talking about the always-on text and graphical database we call the Internet. Since the Internet allows individuals with common ground to connect, there are indeed elements of something like a “community of interest” that emerge. Tremendous efficiencies result. However, weird, and sometimes dangerous, things start happening if this metaphor is taken too literally. People believe in the metaphor and it changes their behavior. They think that they know other people because of their interactions in the digital community, so they sometimes invite them into their real life. While this is not always a disaster, there have been many cases in which unsuspecting children (or adults) have overdrawn the metaphor and been harmed as a result. The metaphor is powerful. In fact, some people believe in the metaphor so strongly that they make claims that their behavior should be judged to have taken place in the jurisdiction of the location of the computer from which the Web page on which they are interacting is served, or even that real laws should not apply to Internet crimes. In my opinion, the metaphor of community on the Internet should not be drawn so strongly that it breaks down real communities in which people actually live.
Metaphors that work need to be accessible, too. If the metaphor you employ is as arcane as the underlying technology you are trying to illuminate by its use, the audience will remain in the dark. For example, sports metaphors abound… simple metaphors about scoring, or “knocking out” the competition. These work because lots of people understand sports in general. But if your sports analogy relies on the arcane rules of a particularly complex and not well understood sport, such as Field Hockey, Cricket, or the wild winter Olympic sport of Curling, then it is not likely that your metaphor will improve understanding in your audience. Keep it simple.
Develop metaphors broadly...
Metaphors do not emerge from the ether (to invoke another tech metaphor). They emerge from sources that are available to a wide array of people. To develop metaphors with wide appeal, one must be widely read. So, to be sure, read technology management books; read technology journals. Study the current state-of-the-art in your field. But read more broadly than that, too. Reading broadly will not only give you common ground with a wider audience, it will also expose you to a wide array of metaphors used effectively by writers.
In addition to the RoundOne blogs and other on-line sources, read the at least three papers: a local one, a national or international financial paper and a national or international general newspaper. It doesn’t really matter if you read the Financial Times or the Wall Street Journal, but you have to read one of them. It doesn’t matter if you read the New York Times or another major source of real news, but you have to read one.
And read books. It doesn’t matter if your read Tom Wolfe, Saul Bellow, or Jonathan Franzen, or Emily Bronte, or Philip Roth, or Rick Moody, but read literary novels. Read what you enjoy, whether it is Tom Clancy or John Grisham or Mario Puzzo or Mary Higgins Clark. It doesn’t matter if you read Tom Peters or Jack Welch or Randy Komisar or Richard Florida or Harry Beckwith, but read business books. It doesn’t matter if you read Shakespeare or Arthur Miller or Paula Vogel, but be familiar with theatre. Know not only Frost, or Whitman, or Emerson, or Yeats, but know also Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou. Not only Dostoevsky, but also Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Of course, the list goes not only on and on, but also up and down. It is not possible to read enough! The more sources outside the realm of technology on which you can draw to construct your own personal business metaphors, the better you will be able to build them and the wider an audience you will reach when they are built.
To really amplify the understanding of the underlying technology of your company, then, develop a metaphor. While you should not confuse the metaphor with reality, be willing to use the power of all of your exposure to thought in every field to strengthen the messages you seek to communicate to broad audiences. Remember that not everyone will understand the detailed technology progress that you make, but if you develop successful metaphors (and the technology is up to the task), your impact will be much greater than if you rely on only those who understand the details to be your customers.
Cliff Dutton is a business and management consultant. He can be reached at cliff.dutton@cox.net.
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