> Intelligence is multifaceted. That business listens to product and not to engineers could be seen as a type of social intelligence of which engineers are notoriously unskilled.
To some extent that's true. I'm sure that product folks tend to have higher verbal intelligence (on average). But all forms of intelligence are highly correlated with each other, and engineers are likely higher overall. Many (though not all) of the engineers I know are quite articulate, even when English isn't their first language.
Much of the difference in "social intelligence" might just come down to being more outgoing and assertive, rather than an actual difference in ability.
> Regardless, framing any portion of your organization as "smarter than" (implicitly "better than") isn't going to help in terms of fostering collaboration.
I agree that the other poster's framing was hostile, but I am sympathetic to their frustration. I think it is helpful to remind product and business leaders that your engineers can be great allies in solving hard business problems.
It's not hostile, just a simple statement of fact.
These product teams aren't interested in collaboration, that's part of the point. A strong software developer can do products job better than they themselves can do it, but they get treated like code monkeys.
To some extent that's true. I'm sure that product folks tend to have higher verbal intelligence (on average). But all forms of intelligence are highly correlated with each other, and engineers are likely higher overall. Many (though not all) of the engineers I know are quite articulate, even when English isn't their first language.
Much of the difference in "social intelligence" might just come down to being more outgoing and assertive, rather than an actual difference in ability.
> Regardless, framing any portion of your organization as "smarter than" (implicitly "better than") isn't going to help in terms of fostering collaboration.
I agree that the other poster's framing was hostile, but I am sympathetic to their frustration. I think it is helpful to remind product and business leaders that your engineers can be great allies in solving hard business problems.