Yesterday, I finished my first draft of my first Forrester publication. The subject is the product development process and how it needs evolve, not merely mature.

Around Forrester, the first publication is a rite of passage. Sure, Mr. Smarty-Pants Industry Guy, you've written millions of words over your career, but can you write a succinct, useful document in the Forrester style? And can you back up your claims with data?

Since I'm normally able to write pages and pages of text without too much effort, my daughter was thrilled to hear that this first Forrester piece was a real challenge. Writing useful advice is not like blogging. Researchers are not pundits.

And now we go into the editing phase...