13 / Beware the "bozo bit"

Welcome to Issue 13!

This week on the Technically Lit podcast, I had an incredible conversation with Adam Wilson, who is a Senior Product Manager over at Microsoft. Normally, we spend a lot of time talking to folks in the startup space, and it was so refreshing to hear Adam's perspective from a much larger organization.

While there are many fun stories and details to unpack, the one that set out most for me was this concept of the Bozo Bit. Adam explained it like this: the moment your engineering team decides your contributions aren’t valuable, they flip the Bozo Bit. From that point on, everything you say is filtered through the assumption that you don’t get it. Your credibility is gone.

It sounds harsh--and it is--but it captures something we don’t talk about enough in product work: professional credibility.

When you’re a PM, designer, or even a founder, your ability to influence doesn’t come from authority. It comes from trust. If engineers believe you understand the problem, respect their expertise, and bring useful context from customers, they’ll engage with you. If they don’t, the Bozo Bit flips--and you’re done.

That’s why technical literacy isn’t optional anymore. You don’t need to be building production systems, but you do need to write code often enough to understand the mechanics, the tradeoffs, and the language your engineers live in. Without that foundation, your feedback can feel hollow, your requests vague. But when you can sketch a working prototype, read through a bug report, or reference an actual implementation detail, you earn trust.

And once you have that credibility, the dynamic shifts. Engineers will brainstorm with you, refine your ideas, and even bring new solutions to the table. You’ll no longer be fighting to be heard--you’ll be part of the team.

The takeaway is simple: protect your credibility. Learn just enough code to understand the system. Practice translating design or product requirements into precise, relevant language. And most importantly, build trust with your engineering team before you ever need to ask them for something hard.

Because once the Bozo Bit flips, it’s almost impossible to turn back.

Let’s get Technically Lit,

Nick

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