Shamanism, the full moon and how they can help us make better digital products

In many cultures, farmers plant crops at specific times during the lunar cycle. For example, many cultures hold it as sacred that the best time to plant is at the full moon. And in recent years, those of a scientific bent have gleefully debunked this idea. In a literal sense, the idea that planting crops during the full moon has a benefit is incorrect.

But is it actually incorrect?

Outside of the lab, things get a bit more murky. That’s because, if everyone in a particular culture believes the time to plant is the full moon, then all the farmers benefit from higher crop yields. Why?

The principle of satiation. Or, to put it another way, if everyone plants at the same time, the pesky herbivores that like to feed on the crops will all have to eat at the same time. And they can only eat so much. Everyone’s crops take a little hit. But nowhere near as much as if they all planted at different times and the pests could enjoy a buffet lasting several weeks.

Is planting at the full moon beneficial? Literally: no. Metaphorically? Yes.

Although in this case the sacred practice had a benefit, it’s never wrong to question ‘why’ we do things a certain way. Unforeseen consequences can be terrifying. The invention of the printing press was responsible for an unprecedented explosion in scientific and humanistic progress. It was also indirectly responsible for between 60,000 and 100,000 deaths in its immediate aftermath. The printing press leant legitimacy to some pretty bonkers people, and it powered the famous witch trials that swept Europe at that time.

Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein suggest that the rapid spread of Internet access over the last 20 years may be having similar unintended consequences (eg. conspiracies, radicalised terrorists), and others that might not be entirely clear without the benefit of future hindsight.

So how should we attempt to balance keeping things as they are (not moving fast and breaking things, as Facebook no longer wants to claim it stands for), with innovating where things could work better?

It’s always important to ask questions. Likewise, it’s also vital to try and anticipate the consequences of making changes, and whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

In order to do this, product teams might take on different hats in when in the early stages of a project.

Shamans: a shaman is like a priest who claims direct contact with the spirit world or the powers beyond. The shaman him/herself claims personal responsibility for mediating the spirit world’s interventions. When team members act as shamans, they look at existing structures, practices and conventions and apply their expertise to offer ‘interventions’ to improve on these.

These interventions can be as radical as the individual sees fit.

Defenders of the sacred: some team members can take on the role of defending existing practices against the shamans ideas. Why might these new ideas not work? What unforeseen consequences might they have?

By formally assigning these roles – at least initially – the product team can bring a sense of joy and play to what is a pretty serious business.

That is: how do we out-innovate our competitors?