We were debating a Backpack feature in our Campfire room today and the word “can’t” came up a few times.
Seeing that word describing different competing solutions reminded me that there are different degrees of can’t. The problem is that can’t is an absolute that’s actually relative when it comes to software design.
You have to ask yourself which can’t wins. Is it “We can’t launch it like that because it’s not quite right” or is it “We can’t spend any more time on this because if we do we can’t launch” ? The outcomes of those two scenarios are night and day, yet they both sound like there are no alternatives. In this context, can’t kills priority which is why it’s an especially dangerous word.
And that’s the problem with using absolutes in debates. They can be healthy when a decision absolutely needs to be made, but they can also box you into corner by pitting two opposite absolutes against each other. That’s head-butting, face-saving time. Can’t squeezes out middle ground when there is usually middle ground to be reached.
Moral of the story: Be careful when attaching absolutes to your position. Attaching absolutes is like throwing a Hail Mary pass—it’s an all or nothing play.
Joe Grossberg
on 03 Jan 07At the very least, it should have the disclaimer ”... in the current timeframe, with the current resources, addressing the current feature set, meeting our current quality standards.”
That way, it’ll get people thinking about what constraints might be changed to turn it into a “can”.
Stephen
on 03 Jan 07Can’t never could do anything
will
on 03 Jan 07I can’t wait for the new backpack release
Dr. Pete
on 03 Jan 07It took me a long time to realize how often saying “can’t” or just “no” came back to bite me. On the one hand, I think there are things you absolutely have to say “no” to (even when customers are asking the question), and I hate pandering for pandering’s sake, but as soon as you say “can’t” or “no” you back yourself into a corner and close off all options.
I find it much more constructive to talk honestly about consequences, whether to an internal team or to customers. If you say “here’s what will happen (what it will cost, etc.) if we do X”, there’s at least room for dialogue. Somehow, “I can do it, but it will cost $50K” comes across a lot better than “I can’t do it”, even if the end result is the same.
Tom
on 03 Jan 07In the south we say “C’aint”
Jonathan Snook
on 04 Jan 07I almost never say “can’t”, or at least, I never recall doing so. Clients have mentioned on occasion how agreeable I seem. But as I like to say,
“Anything is possible. It’s just a matter of how much time and how much money.”
Paul Tiemann
on 04 Jan 07Nice post. It reminds me of a favorite paragraph from Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography where he offers similar advice:
I continued this method some few years, but gradually left it, retaining only the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest diffidence, never using, when I advance anything that may possibly be disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that give the air of positiveness to an opinion; but rather say, I conceive, or apprehend, a thing to be so and so; it appears to me, or I should not think it, so or so, for such and such reasons; or, I imagine it to be so; or It is so, if I am not mistaken. This habit, I believe, has been of great advantage to me when I have had occasion to inculcate my opinions and persuade men into measures that I have been from time to time engaged in promoting. And as the chief, ends of conversation are to inform or to be informed, to please or to persuade, I wish well-meaning and sensible men would not lessen their power of doing good by a positive assuming manner, that seldom fails to disgust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat most of those purposes for which speech was given to us. In fact, if you wish to instruct others, a positive dogmatical manner in advancing your sentiments may occasion opposition, and prevent a candid attention. If you desire instruction and improvement from others, you should not at the same time express yourself fixed in your present opinions. Modest and sensible men, who do not love disputation, will leave you undisturbed in the possession of your errors. In adopting such a manner, you can seldom expect to please your hearers, or obtain the concurrence you desire. Pope judiciously observes,—
"Men must be taught, as if you taught them not, And things unknown proposed as things forgot."He also recommends it to us,
"To speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence."FredS
on 04 Jan 07You have clients? lol
Anita
on 04 Jan 07I can’t see my toes. Oh wait, there they are.
Nice post, I use absolutes far too often in day-to-day business.
George
on 04 Jan 07Absolutes are relative. You still can change your mind, can’t you? ;)
Trisha
on 04 Jan 07When little girl says “I can’t!” I remind her that there’s no such thing as “can’t” – she either: 1) doesn’t want to do it, or 2) she doesn’t know how to do it. It’s that simple most of the time. :o)
vps hosting
on 04 Jan 07Cant is simply a negativity towards optimism, which shouldnt be used when it comes to proffessionality.
Tom Greenhaw
on 04 Jan 07This post brings three thoughts to me…
Given time and money we can do anything.
Speed, Quality, Cost – pick 2
The things you choose not to do are sometimes more important than the things you actually do.
Nathan Clendenin
on 04 Jan 07“Can’t” usually comes from an emotional response. If you take that into account, it can help you respond to someone usn’t the word and ease their fears by recognizing their stress and the stress of the situation and finding out its root. Keeping everyone on the same page, even emotionally, seems like an essential thing for the team’s longevity, but in most business scenarios emotional concerns aren’t even considered.
Luis
on 04 Jan 07Even though something “can’t” be done one way doesn’t mean it can’t be done at all. Anything is possible. It’s just a matter of convincing people to let you that which is possible. There has to be some flexibility from both sides.
Jack Cheng
on 04 Jan 07“Only a Sith deals in absolutes.”
I like Nathan’s thinking – recognizing the word “can’t” can help us become more aware of the situation and other team members’ worries.
Nate
on 04 Jan 07This reminds me a bit of Hack #52 from Oreilly’s Mind Performance Hacks. “Communicate in E-Prime”. In that example, it’s eliminating the verb “to be” has some cool effects: can make your speach less dogmatic and pompous.
Examples like “That is a spaceship!” (with “to be” this sounds so finite and unarguable). Where the alternative might work: “That certainly looks like a spacheship” (allows for discussion and more investigation)
Stu Savory
on 04 Jan 07Try saying “Emmanual” instead ;-)
josh susser
on 04 Jan 07On the flip side… I love it when we’re discussing a software project and the product manager asks me “Can we make it do X?”. I reply, “The answer to that question is almost always ‘yes’. A more useful question is ‘What would it take to do X?’ Everything is just a Small Matter Of Programming. How much time do you want to spend doing that? What other features should we sacrifice to do X?” That sometimes leaves them scratching their heads, but after a while they get the idea that it isn’t a 1-bit answer.
Richard
on 04 Jan 07Whenever I talk about software I say “everything can be done”, and then I add “but propably it’s not a good idea”. ;-)
CJ Curtis
on 05 Jan 07I definitely try and stay away from that word.
To me it’s a more self-serving way of saying “I don’t want to.” In my experience, when someone says it CAN’T be done, everyone else in the room tends to align themselves against that person, and they prove them wrong within 30 seconds.
I reserve it for when I really don’t know how to do something NOR do I have an interest in learning how.
But then again, there are some things that simply CAN’T be done, despite the “anything is possible” philosophy. Some things ARE impossible. It just gets more complicated as we apply our own values to the situation:
Is it impossible to design, produce and launch a website in a day? No, of course not.
Is it impossible to design, produce and launch a website that is well planned, well designed, and has a genuine chance to support and grow a business? Personally, I don’t think so.
wayne
on 08 Jan 07Can’t means won’t.
This discussion is closed.