Title: Thomas Jefferson and preparing for meetings
Context: Never bring a rough concept to a finished design fight.
Synopsis: What the hell does Thomas Jefferson have to do with user experience? Well, not much actually. But this story isn’t about user experience. It’s about that other part of our jobs. You know, the part where we spend most of our business lives: in meetings. The point of this (very brief) anecdote is highly relevant however. If you want people to see things your way show up to these meetings ridiculously prepared. Be beyond prepared. Be post-pared. If you want to set the agenda, or at least have undue influence upon it, blind them with preparation.
Best Bit: “[Jefferson’s] purpose was strategic: to show up at the meeting with something so substantive that everyone else would have to fall into the role of simply proposing modifications to it, so that the overall shape, and therefore schedule, of the project would be roughly as he wanted.”
via johndcook.com
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