Embarrassing Questions

Management wants to buy a product you don't want to use. You tell them you don't want to. The salesman plays the IbmManagementGame, your boss looks at the brochures and listens to the palaver and suddenly they know better than you. There's a big meeting with salesmen and their technical thralls and you're roped in. Why don't you want to buy this wonderful tool? Well, this is wasting your time, you're on the spot, and you really just want to go work. But you can't say that.

Therefore,

Just remember these five handy words:

• Security
• Fault Tolerance
• Documentation
• Standards
• Scalability

You don't even have to ask specific questions. Just say one of the words. Now they're on the spot. Addressing these always raises more questions than it answers. If those questions don't occur to anyone else, then you can ask them without thought. But as long as hubbub continues, just stay impassive and think about something productive. Their 2 hour presentation will go by without you even noticing, you'll look professionally detached, and the tool vendor will never darken your doorstep again.