If you use AOL Mail, you have probably noticed the random splash screen below, with two different descriptions designed to make everyone happy in the “glass half empty or half full” debate:
Of course, being an optimist also tends to come in rather handy for product marketers and managers, not to mention fellow job searchers amid this economy!
I have just built out a new Publications and Presentations page, including my writing samples, presentations, byline articles, and articles written for Productivity, the Boston Product Management Association (BPMA) e-newsletter. I have also added some articles, written by others, which I solicited for publication in Productivity. This includes a very practical article on Optimism: The Hidden Asset by author Bruna Martinuzzi, and more.
As for the glass debate: While an optimist will say the glass is half full, the pessimist will say the glass is half empty, I have concluded that the product manager and product marketer will conclude revealing research and effectively message that the glass is 50% 2x too large, resulting in the smaller glass that customers really want, cutting production costs and improving margins! You GO, product marketers and managers!
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Mike Urbonas 
Hi Mike, Good point, but one nit. I have to question your math. The glass is in fact 100% too large (because the denominator is half a glass).
Best,
— Colin @woz2
Hmm, Colin, maybe saying the glass is “2x too large” would be more mathematically accurate…? Thanks for reading & posting!
Yes, 2x too large and 100% too large are both correct.
actual = 2 * needed
actual = 100% * needed + needed
You can say 2X or 50% too large but not 100% too large. If its sized is reduced 50% we have a glass half the size it orignally was and it will be just right for that amount of liquid. If we reduce it 100% we have 0% of the glass’s original size left (it would become nonexistent.)
The old ‘engineer’ joke Mike?
“…but the engineer says the glass is twice as big as it should be!” (drum roll)
Which is kinda scary if you think about it, because that means marketers and engineers may have similar thought processes! And I *never* thought that before…
Hi Stewart. Actually I was thinking along the lines of product managers/marketers *proving* the glass is 2x too large, rather than an engineer’s own observation. Engineers, when presented with a well defined problem, will solve it quickly. I like this engineer joke best:
A team of business executives were tasked with measuring the height of a flagpole. They tried to climb ladders with tape measures, but they kept dropping the tape measure or getting too wobbly at the top of the ladder – it was a mess.
An engineer observed all this, then calmly pulled the flagpole out of its base, rested it flat on the ground, measured it, and wrote down the result, which he gave to one of the executives and walked away.
The executive laughed and said, “Hmmph, typical engineer! We’re trying to measure the flagpole’s height, and he just gave us the length!”