The Unplugged: Developers Changing How the World Works
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A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Ruven Meulenberg (author of “The Unplugged“) who had mentioned oDesk in his book and wanted to delve a bit deeper into our motto of “Changing How the World Works.” We had a very fruitful conversation, and you may see future guest posts from Ruven and his team on this blog, but I wanted to begin by introducing you to the book and some of the principles presented in it.
There are some extremely powerful ideas addressed in this book, especially when you consider the entire thing is only 95 pages long! The writing is a bit “rough” but the concepts are solid and definitely worth diving into.
It starts by discussing the effect change has on a project (specifically a development project, but I think the idea can be almost universally applied.) As developers know, it is the change process in a project that complicates things. Freelance software developers feel this pain especially, as the specs for a project change and they may have to shift their contracts to account for additional time spent moving this item over there and modifying that background color from red to blue. The key to managing change, Ruven says, is moving all change to the beginning of the process.
That’s right. All changes happen early on. In order for this to work, the second principle needs to be enforced. This is understanding that every development should be fundamentally the same and accepting the need to lay out a roadmap that can be applied to all development projects. Ruven asserts that all projects run the course of Cloud – Create – Contstruct – Control. (Essentially: brainstorm, design, build, test/tweak.) The book delves into this concept deeply, and I think the idea presented within this framework is pretty powerful for non-technical people to understand how the development process works – especially realizing that the Create process begins with an end vision and works backwards to the startpoint, while the Construct process that immediately follows begins at the start and builds logically to the finished product. (For some this might seem like a no-brainer, but it was a real eye-opener to “admittedly-only-minorly-technical” me!)
One of my favorite sections of the book described software and Web-ware creators as “artists”. This particularly resonated with me, as I always felt that there was an inherent creativity to the creation process of technology, one that was seldom recognized as such (at least outside of the video game community). Where “The Unplugged” gets its name from is the idea that creativity is constrained by rigid systems – and that technology in and of itself is a mathematical, rigid construct. The idea here is to free software developers and UX designers from their computers and give them more free-form tools to create with. The book then gives a hearty pitch for Guimags, the invention of Ruven and his team, an interesting blend of whiteboard and magnetic design board intended to open up the creative process in a hands-on and intuitive way.
I’m not a developer, so I can’t tell you definitively how effective their product is, but the process seems sound (Cloud – Create – Construct – Control) and widely applicable to many creative fields. Where it gets a bit exciting though, is the end of the book, where Ruven addresses applying the process and the tools to projects. He talks quite a bit about changing the way the world works by balancing the application of technology and talent on any given project, and the idea that freelance providers are a smart, flexible and economic way to tap into skilled talent at the points in process where it is needed the most.
For those of you who know oDesk well, this concept may sound familiar. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments below. Do you think the concepts above are sound? Have you read “The Unplugged?”
Michael
July 14th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I read The Unplugged since it was recommended by my friend. I’d never heard of the author or anything so I must admit I was skeptical. I read it in one sitting and was amazed at the amount of tricks and insights it gave me…(at high speed, I must say)
I do a lot of development work for clients, and I found myself changing the way I work with them the day after I read the little book,from small things to some bigger philosophy type of things, and I even changed my default contracts.
Of course I knew about oDesk, so that chapter wasn’t new to me, though. I do think this book is best for those who engage with clients and either do or outsource the work. Those who do the work are a good second, because there are some good parts on how to protect yourself and get paid more (through the 4 phases).
Efraim
July 15th, 2009 at 4:07 am
Great article!
Bloggers can get the book for free on:
http://www.guimags.com/unplugged
Jeff
July 19th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I love how simple, to the point, and powerful “The Unplugged” is. As someone who has to frequently put together projects and strategies for my company I found this book to be simple without being simplistic.
So much of what we do desperately requires vision, strategy, and process yet so few people (and businesses) spend the real time to do this and do it well. I’ve always wondered why until I stepped into the position where I was the one who had to develop, design, and implement and then I found out why: it is much harder to think then it is to do.
Most of us want action and we want it now. When we sit in rooms “wasting” time in meetings we feel like we’re not getting anything done but when they’re the right kind of meetings that’s when the real work gets done (yes, I said that you can get actual work done in meetings; and I don’t just mean answering emails and texts).
Thank you, Ruven, for putting this book together. It helps to take the fear out of figuring out how to get to your goal and even figuring out what your real goal is. These steps aren’t many (which I love) but they have universal application in any field to get to where you want and need to go.