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.
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Top reviews from other countries
Bargin Hunter
Lots of talk about what the Geek Gap is..
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2013