Comments

The major World-class CHEFS are almost all MEN - how can that be, I thought-police WOMEN ROCK le world de foode, n'est pas?!

The major World-class MODELS are all WOMEN - guy models get paid zip in comparison - has the WORLD GONE MAD Dr. Thomas?!

Posted by Freeman at December 20, 2004 4:06 PM

not to mention the world's best archtects, artists, music composers, programmers etc etc etc etc etc

Posted by tilak at December 20, 2004 4:25 PM

tilak

are you saying that the world's best programmers are men? I've worked for a long time in programming teams, and in my experience that that just isn't the case.

Posted by Tim Almond at December 21, 2004 5:55 AM

Talent comes in all shapes and sizes. Part of me thinks Tom is right to crusade about women because of the imbalance of it all. The other part of me thinks he is plain flat wrong and that we need to find better ways of spotting and encouraging the right talent whatever gender. I have worked with women managers who have been fantastic and some who have been worse than dreadful. There are plenty of men out there who are open to and can deal with all the complexities of human relationships. I suspect these men are held back by exactly the same jock type dinosaur attitudes and structures that hold women back.

So are there problems - absolutely! Do they need fixing - too right! But lets get better at finding real talent!

Posted by PaulH at December 21, 2004 6:10 AM

This is not at all about gender. It is about audience and their audience is not us normal people at all.

Their audience is the reviewers and awards committees that let them put another plaque on the wall of their reception area.

As an experiment look at some model homes from the big builders, then call some local remodelers and get some references of people who created the remodel design themselves and then visit them. There is a profound difference in the style and usability of a Professional design and the Amateur design the Amateur is far more homey, comfortable and easy to Live in.

This also happens in software development. Big companies have to have large feature lists for the reviewers to site in the magazine. Real people rarely use more then a single-digit percentage of those features.
Shareware developers, on the other hand, create a product that does one thing but does it very, very well. The common people love it but it never gets a review in a major publication because it only does one thing and you can't write a 1500 word review on something that does just one thing without problems.

In a completely different field. Not long ago the Food Channel ran a series called Jamie's Kitchen. Famous chef Jamie Oliver takes a dozen under-privileged kids from the streets of London and tries to turn them into chefs in 1 year. It soon became clear that the audience that he is playing to is not the ordinary patron that comes to his restaurant every week or month but the jaded palettes of the restaurant reviewers who need something different to write about.

And when was the last time you liked a movie that the reviewers liked?

There are many other examples but it comes down to this, if a company is trying to create award-winning products they will design to the standards of the award committees and not of the people who will use the product. The product usually is useless to the client.

On the other hand those companies that design with the client in mind tend not to win awards or get good reviews, but their products "just work". Apple computer is one of the few companies that bridge this gap with great design and a useful product.

Posted by StephanF at December 21, 2004 12:44 PM

Hey guys (and gals)!!!!
never tought that those guys could be...G-A-Y ?
I have nothing at all against gay but let's not limit ourselves to the traditional gender...

Posted by John Turner at January 2, 2005 11:56 PM