> I've seen "must not talk" with a product owner who served to represent the voice of the customer, and incidentally take credit for the work he didn't understand and somewhat obstructed.
The bits of Office Space with Tom Smykowski and the Bobs were funny when I first saw the movie, but as I grew older I realized their eternal truth: people hired as customer-engineer intermediaries (whether they're called "product owner", "business analyst", or anything else) get very tetchy when engineers start communicating directly with their user base because it threatens their job security.
> people hired as customer-engineer intermediaries (whether they're called "product owner", "business analyst", or anything else) get very tetchy when engineers start communicating directly with their user base because it threatens their job security.
I think SMEs and startups should avoid hiring for this role altogether for this reason. The dysfunction it can cause is a great risk companies of this size don’t need to expose themselves to. It leads to bad requirements gathering, designing the wrong specifications, and unnecessary work and communication.
The bits of Office Space with Tom Smykowski and the Bobs were funny when I first saw the movie, but as I grew older I realized their eternal truth: people hired as customer-engineer intermediaries (whether they're called "product owner", "business analyst", or anything else) get very tetchy when engineers start communicating directly with their user base because it threatens their job security.