Dealing with a HiPPO encounter

I was recently reading a post by Susan Stavitzski with the following prompt:

Image of a hippo. Photo by Stefan Steinbauer on Unsplash

I was recently reading a post by Susan Stavitzski with the following prompt:

“The CEO/Founder frantically comes to you after your biggest competitor launches a cool new feature demanding your team build it too.

Walk me through how you’d test your assumptions, gather data and deliver to leadership that this is NOT something the company should invest in. 🤔

What would you do?”

This is a classic case of Highest Paid Person’s Opinion, as described by Jeff Gothelf in this article.

Just for fun, I searched for “how to stop a charging hippo”, and Google came up with this article about How to deal with a hippo encounter.

(Note: I tried to post the article as a funny comment in response to the original post, and I got an error message; I thought that I was being banned, turns out LinkedIn was down at around 1:15 PM ET on 09/21/2022.)

Let’s just say that it was surprising how much of the advice also applies. And that switching the context from actual animal encounters to product management, was downright hilarious :D. (Or maybe I just amuse myself too easily :D).

I will summarize the advice so that you don’t have to go and read the original article:

Method 1 — Respecting HiPPO’s space in the water.

1. Steer clear of HiPPOs

2. Avoid HiPPOs in shallow water

3. Alert them to your presence

4. Retreat

Yup, whenever possible you need to steer clear of HiPPOs situations, especially in shallow water, since they would feel vulnerable and will lash out with little provocation. What is the context of the conversation? Read the room and act accordingly.

You need to alert them to your presence, for example by supporting your own opinion with relevant data about what to build, and what NOT to build.

If that does not work, retreating is indeed an option.

Method 2 — Avoiding HiPPOs on land

1. Stick to open areas

2. Stay to the inland sideof HiPPOs

3. Keep your eyes peeled for dung signs

4. Run for cover

That sounds about right. You need to allow yourself a wide range of vision so that you see them coming. Do not get in the way between it and the safety of a body of water, always allow it a clear path to the water. Give the HiPPO a way out, rather than cornering it.

“Keep your eyes peeled for dung signs“ is about as self-describing as it comes :D :D :D

And, if everything else fails, run for cover, they are faster than you. Check.

Method 3 — Anticipating HiPPOs’ habits

1. Beware of HiPPOs in the mating season

2. Avoid boating in the dry season

3. Expect them on land at night

4. Leave calves alone.

These ones get interesting. Fierce competition for mates makes HiPPOs aggressive, understandably. And a dry season (e.g. a decrease in revenue) can make them even more aggressive and dangerous. Do not startle them in the dark, travel slowly to avoid stumbling upon them with no warning.

And of course, leave their calves alone, mothers can be ferociously protective of their young if they feel they are threatened in any way.

All in all, very sound advice. Now, on to the original prompt on how to deal with the HiPPO attack in a Product Management situation. Here’s my approach:

Like Jeff Gothelf says in the article I cited at the beginning of this post, a HiPPO is a hypothesis. And as such, it needs to be subject to the same level of rigor as all other hypotheses.

So you need to as questions looking for data that helps validate the hypothesis, and you can even offer to test the idea before fully implementing it.

But there is also an emotional component that the 2 previous bits of advice would not necessarily cover: you also need to show vulnerability by being open to being wrong, and listening with the intent to understand, rather than responding, attacking, or validating. So you need to choose carefully your questions to show curiosity rather than doubt.

And sometimes digging into the underlying concerns that prompt the HiPPO allows you to arrive together at a solution that satisfies the original concern, while at the same time being data-informed instead of opinion-driven.

You don’t want to end up charged by a hippo into building a Fire Phone.

Perhaps I am mixing metaphors, but I hope you get the idea :D.