It's odd when I'm on a conference call that includes two or three not-
very-technical managers, and one of them says, “I wasn't expecting to
get to this level of detail on this call. Maybe we should plan another
call later just for the techies.”

There are times when that's appropriate — for example, if the
discussion of finer points is impeding progress to determine overall
goals. But in many cases, such as my call this morning, the overall
goals have already been determined. The only thing left is finer points.

I can't quite empathize with this response. Perhaps they just don't
want their time to be wasted. Maybe it's because the non-technical
people feel out of their element.

In some cases, the finer points of detail are critical to the overall
picture. A tiny missing feature can be the undoing of grand plans, or
a tiny detail can save a huge amount of effort, or add immense
efficiency.