Finally. Maybe we could start by listing the selling points of Apache CouchDB?
- benoit On Wed, Jul 24, 2013 at 1:24 PM, Noah Slater <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi devs, > > I came across this video recently: > > Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action > http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html > > In it he sets out what he calls the Golden Circle: > > Why > > - What's your purpose? > - What's your cause? > - What's your belief? > > How > > - How do we do it? > - How does our product differentiate? > - How are we different? > - How are we better? > > What > > - What do we do? > - What do we make? > > He points out that the difference between companies like Apple and > companies like Dell. > > Dell tells you what they do, and how. "We make great computers. They're > well designed and work well. Wanna buy a computer?" Most companies do it > like this. But they often miss out the "why". > > But then you look at Apple, and they do it the other way around. Apple tell > you what their purpose is. The rest is almost an afterthought. "We believe > in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking different. We do that > with great design and a focus on the user experience. We just happen to > make computers." He then joking quips: "Ready to buy one yet?" > > (His talk gives several other examples, with his thesis being that telling > your story from the outside in is what separates all the great companies > and leaders. One of his main examples is the Wright brothers.) > > He comments that if you talk about what you believe, you will attract those > that believe what you believe. That when you talk about what you believe, > people will join you for their own reasons, for their own purpose. And that > what you do simply serves as proof of what you believe. Or as he quips: > "Martin Luther King gave his 'I have a dream' speech, not his 'i have a > plan' speech." > > Why am I bringing this to the dev list? > > Because our message stinks. "Apache CouchDB™ is a database that uses JSON > for documents, JavaScript for MapReduce queries, and regular HTTP for an > API" is a terrible way to introduce who we are, what we stand for, and why > we build this thing. (And I'm allowed to say all that, because I'm the one > who wrote it, with lots of help from Jan.) > > So what am I proposing? I'm proposing that we figure out our why. That we > figure out what we stand for, what we believe in. And then we figure out > how we're gonna do that (pro tip: replication is more important than the > data format we use). Not only will this define a consistent internal vision > for the project (what *are* we working towards anyway?) but it will help us > to attract people who believe in what we believe. > > So, if you have any thoughts about this, speak up! > > Thanks, > > -- > NS >
