Sharing Stories From Your API Operations

I’ve done 3 stories over the last week about the Panoptix API from Johnson Controls (JCI). I try to regularly check in with the John Bernd (@jkbernd) and Simone Vigano (@viganosimone of the Panoptix API team, and see what they are up to in the world of building efficiency APIs.

What make this possible is their willingness to share stories, trust in me that I’m going to tell these stories in the best possible light, but also no fear of what people think of their approach. John and Simone share my humble view, that we are all just figuring this shit out as we go along. Of course it is based upon experience, and both sensible strategical and tactical execution, but in the grand scheme of things, there is no single master plan for success.

You'd be surprised at the number of people who call me, share stories about their internal API operations, then conclude the conversation by telling me that I can’t tell publicly for fear of what the public will think, or fear of upsetting folks within their own company. Sometimes I tell the stories with names and identifying elements scrubbed, but often I just add to my wealth of knowledge of move on.

Teaching individuals and companies how to tell stories and open up, and be more transparent, is the number one benefit of APIs in my opinion. All the business benefits in new revenue streams, efficiency, agility, innovation and all the other reasons I often cite are secondary to helping companies learn to open up.

What is your company’s stance on storytelling, and sharing both the good and bad of your API operations?