Technically Correct
Bureaucrat Conrad, you are technically correct — the best kind of correct. I hereby promote you to grade 37.
— Number 1.0 (Futurama in Season 2 Episode 15)
Even though it’s a frequently underrated show, Futurama is full of small gems that stand out, shining brightly from within their dark mine. Sure, there are plenty of low moments (including being cancelled twice), but it shines brightly both when it’s absurd and when it has a more profound message.
There are more than enough absurd moments, including a Robot Santa gone evil (because his naughty-or-nice meter is busted), but the philosophical moments are a bit further apart.
Not meaning to spoil the episode for the reader, one of the characters in the show promotes Hermes Conrad due to the fact that he is technically correct. Paraphrasing, the boss goes on to say that since it’s technical, it’s the best type of correct.
The tower of Babel
Endless discussions in companies that combine engineers and creatives are very common. Both groups speak completely different languages (let’s assume they’re groups, for simplicity’s sake). In essence though, they often say the same thing.
A Tower of Babel situation is generated very often, and it usually comes from previous conditioning. Engineers are taught that their craft is superior because it’s technical… and creatives are taught to disregard engineers, because they’re technical and don’t have the empathy to understand the other side.
Full disclosure, before anyone gets rowdy: I’m a graphic designer by trade, but I work at a tech company.
Basically, these misunderstandings often boil down to a black or white discussion. And the truth of the matter is: being right isn’t a win or lose situation. In an argument, two groups can be right, and in many cases, they can both end up saying the same thing.
What brings this situation?
Both groups have a tendency to speak of each other’s worlds without fully understanding them. There is a general lack of empathy on both ends that causes this.
Creatives tend to think that developing is “just adding another button”, and engineers tend to think that desigining “is just making things look nice.”
The importance of translation
That’s the heart of the issue. Not polarised visions, not irreconcilable opinions. Just different languages.
And here’s the important part:
Both tech and creative companies should embrace mixed backgrounds. They should integrate people with feet in both areas into their workflow, and learn from both in order to succeed.
Some of the greatest companies around are born of people in between worlds. They don’t have to be ideal role models in either field, they just need to understand both sides and know how to communicate.
Because in the end, adding another button, or making it look nicer move in the same direction. What the company wants, and what everybody wants is for things to work. We’re all on the same boat.
