Customer Reviews

The Geek Gap: Why Business and Technology Professionals Don't Understand Each Other and Why They Need Each Other to Survive

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There's no question that the authors of The Geek Gap have struck upon a widespread phenomenon: businesspeople and technologists frequently experience difficulty communicating. It's challenging to communicate across these domains, not only because "suits" and "geeks" speak different vocabularies, but also because they tend to think differently. The point of the book is basically to teach businesspeople how technologists think and technologists how businesspeople think. In a nutshell, the authors suggest taking genuine interest in how the other side works is the best way to overcome misunderstandings and to foster healthier business climates. They also offer a number of practical management tips to lessen the communicative dissonance, even recommending that "geeks" and "suits" temporarily switch jobs to get a sense of what the other side is actually doing.

I think the authors sometimes overplay the differences between "geeks" and "suits," thereby contributing to stereotypes which exist more in popular culture than contemporary business environments. Do most "suits" really disdain technology? The excellent coverage of technology in the Wall Street Journal suggests otherwise. Do most "geeks" really disregard the business purpose of their corporations? The rise of agile methodologies, which encourage closer and more frequent communication between developers and stakeholders, as well as Service Oriented Architecture, which offers a philosophy for reusable services both at the technological and the business level, also suggests that "geeks" have recognized that it's in their best interests as developers to close this gap.

The book is nicely written and an easy read. While the problems of communication described by the authors have already existed for a long time (although I'd dispute that it stretches back as far as Galileo, as the authors assert), the pervasiveness of information technology in the contemporary business world has made it more necessary than ever to acknowledge and start bridging this gap. Reading this book will not be the end of that process, but it could provide a helpful beginning.

This book is crisply written, as specific as possible in its observations, and has the necessary anecdotal evidence, this being the only kind of evidence one could collect on this topic.

I hope this book finds the people who could use it. The geek gap is more pronounced when the product or service being sold isn't technological itself. Across such a cultural divide the hazards of prejudices are more acute.

What kept coming to me as I read this book is the general prevalence of "attitude", the product of ignorance or, at worst, arrogance. I'm a lawyer and I've seen that a lot of lawyers are arrogant -- they think they know a lot when in fact they don't, they think they are good at things when in fact they aren't, and they think they have "seen the world" when in fact they have lived in a bubble. Such a lack of awareness seems worse in older lawyers. In my profession you can do some things badly for years and never suffer for it or even be aware of it.

Entering law school was like entering any new environment: the important thing is not to go in with an attitude. Keep your eyes and ears and, especially, your mind, open. That is how one gets older and smarter, instead of older and stupider.

Back to the point -- this book is about the attitudes geeks and business people have toward each other. A lot of the attitude is based on externals, and here I was mostly in sympathy with the geeks, based on my own experience in a non-technology field. In my profession I often have to use a more pompous, formal writing style than I prefer, because pompous writing impresses

1. stupid people,
2. insecure bureaucrats, and
3. people who don't know what they want,

and most of the time I am writing to one of these three, if not directly, then eventually.

The same applies, more or less, to the emphasis on appearance that business people stress. They want customers and don't want to cut themselves off from the #1, #2 or #3 market. It should be easy for any reasonably mature geek to understand this, and the need to keep up appearances with clients or corporate bigwigs. When these considerations don't apply, I don't sympathize with the business people's criticism of the geek lifestyle. As far as the geek lifestyle described in this book goes, bare feet in the office is O.K. with me. Games in the office are O.K. Casual clothing and behavior is O.K. Myself, I work better casual. Suits just suck the life out of me. In my profession, the better the tailoring, the slicker and more dishonest the lawyering. (This goes extra for those guys with the weirdly deep tans and the hair helmets.) Probably this is true in other professions too.

The book describes some business decisions that were made that defeated the purpose of a geek creation. A business person without an "attitude" should find it easy to be honest with the geeks as to why he had to do what he did. Sometimes business decisions are illogical and counterproductive but you have to make them to please #1, #2 or #3. I don't see why this can't be admitted to the geeks in question, along with the simple observation that otherwise both business person and geek would be out of a job.

As far as the substantive interactions between business person and geek, from the book I found myself mostly in sympathy with the business people. The idea that some geeks apparently have, that considerations of profit should not inhibit their work, strikes me as immature. These are not professors in an endowed chair, or composers on retainer to write whatever they want. Such situations are exceptions in the range of adult experience. On your free time you can do what you want, but you decided to get employed and get paid. Once you make that decision you must produce what people will buy. Grow up already!

What, is this "review" too long? In part I'm just remaking the points made in the book, which covers every angle I could think of and then some. I keep coming back to attitude, though. A similar book could probably be written about lawyers vs. clients -- or about officers vs. enlisted men, directors vs. producers, or professors vs. administrators. Those divisions are timeless. But this seems like about the right year for a book on the geek gap.

The Geek Gap is an interesting window onto the various subcultures that make American corporate culture run. I came to this book not as a geek or a suit, nor as someone with any pressing personal need to bridge the geek gap, but found it so engaging that I read it in a single (longish) sitting. The authors' thesis can be applied to many settings and situations beyond the corporate workplace--the Geek Gap is, in microcosm, the same gap that divides and undermines so many groups that need each other to survive, yet come into repeated, and seemingly insoluble conflict, based on a deep clash of largely unarticulated values. Breezily and clearly written, with a wealth of specific examples, and refreshingly commonsense suggestions for addressing the problem, The Geek Gap is a timely and topical book that sheds light on the way we live now.

Very intesting book that gave insight into why technology / IT projects fail. Plus, it had some great history and examples on why those project failed.

A very interesting book, but a topic that is
well-covered eslewhere perhaps. Refer to I.T. Wars:
Managing the Business-Technology Weave in the New
Millennium. That book runs the gamut from
sole-proprietor's needs to large corporations', and
discusses divides between these groups and the
subsequent influence on business as well as national
security. Solutions are abundant and the text is
written for Business as well as Technology eyes. Very
comprehensive: The Business-Technology Weave is a
culture, and is well-explained for ultimate business outcomes.

THE GEEK GAP: WHY BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS DON'T UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER AND WHY THEY NEED EACH OTHER TO SURVIVE outlines the existing and growing gap between the two groups, who often have their own technical language within each group to strengthen understanding within - and division outside the group. Bill Pfeging is a computer and web consultant with co-author Minda Zetlin a veteran business writer: the two explore this gap, how it adversely affects businesses, and how to overcome it, with tips aimed at both geeks and 'suits' to help each group understand the other. A 'must' for improving business communication skills.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

"Suits" versus "geeks" may sound like the plot of a lame science-fiction movie, but the conflict between suits (managers) and geeks (IT workers) is fact, not fiction. This war leads to the waste of huge sums of money on failed IT projects. Sometimes, the losses are even more devastating, such as the injury or death of people who rely on technology that fails to function correctly. The clash between suits and geeks is deeply rooted in history. Many assume that, like the weather, this conflict is a way of life and nothing can be done about it. But IT consultant Bill Pfleging (geek) and business writer Minda Zetlin (suit) disagree. They propose sensible solutions companies can use to reduce the antagonism between executives and technicians, and to help them work well together. getAbstract recommends this book to managers and technicians who must rely on each other without making sparks fly. Now you can communicate across the chasm.

Very good read. Interesting and informative. I enjoyed it. Also a great gift for the techy-geek in your life, or even for that management person who has a need/hate relationship with her/his IT department!

I'm not a book reviewer, so I'll leave the more detailed reviews to them, but as a non-professional "reader" I enjoyed it.

If you're like me and like computer history books and books about the stars of the field, and books about deathmarches and managing software projects and people, then this book is worth reading. (Ever notice how our field has so many interesting books?). I read it quickly...and found I could grasp the material even at an almost scanning speed. That's a good attribute from my point of view.

It seems like a given in business that people who work together would talk with each other. Pfleging and Zetlin tell us this book isn't about hidden problems but problems that everyone acknowledges as "the root failure of a large percentage of costly failures in business." (page 17).

Here's one of the keys for this book: "Everyone knows it's there, but no one knows what to do about it, so no one talks about it." And the financial cost for this lack of communication is huge. On page 26, these authors write, "According to researchers at the Standish Group, only 34 percent of all IT projects in the United States are successful. The rest either fail completely or are "challenged"--that is, seriously late, substantially over budget, or both. In total, this costs American businesses about $55 billion in 2003, the last year for which figures are available." What a huge problem!

The authors boil the Geek Gap into three basic issues:

1. Geeks and suits don't communicate well.

2. Geeks and suits don't respect each other.

3. Technology people and business people don't trust each other.

These authors balance careful research with clear examples and solutions. In the final pages they say, "The best way to bridge the Geek Gap, for everyone's ultimate success, is to learn more about the work of the other side, appreciate the thought and talent that goes into it, and respect all who contributed to the health of your organization. This will put you ahead of the completion." (page 233).

Jump ahead of your competition with this title. I recommend it.