How does it look alike usually...

Damn, this is so annoying & it happens every 2nd day:

A: "Have you seen this new tool - XYZ v.1.0? It's awesome, we have to set it one ASAP. It does ABC & DEF."

B: "And what do you need ABC & DEF for? How is it any better than what you have right now? Even if it's better, how does the gain compare with the cost of change?

A: "It's made by Hackrosoft, it has to be awesome."

or

A: "I've used it in my previous work, it worked perfectly for us there!"

or

A: "It was reviewed in Hipstacode Magazine, retwitted by Devilyn Codesmart & there was a great presentation on that on Hype Matter conference."

People tend to complicate their lives - subconcsciously they hope that even without full understanding of their actual problems they are able to solve them by applying more & more tools - the more expensive & overhyped, the better.

But it's wrong!

What they can't / don't want to grasp is:

  1. If you don't know the actual problem, how do you know you're solving it with new tools? Actually, you may be just boosting it. This is not "using best practices", it's "ignorance".

  2. There's rarely a one single answer to a problem - even if some tool has worked somewhere else before, it doesn't mean that:

    • this tool will work in every scenario you'll encounter from now on
    • other tools suck & the faster you replace them, the better

  3. If you want a serious change & you believe that this change can be driven by the tool - in the best case you should get prepared for the painful transformation, just because:

    • it's the mindset of people you need to change FIRST, the culture in the work environment they reside in: no buy-in = no actual (meaningful) change
    • tools, procedures, policies - all of these are easy to fool, hack & twist - the larger organization, the easier to do that (and the harder to detect)

  4. Yes, it may be convenient to blame the tool afterwards - hey, it was supposed to aid us, but in the end, it was not flexible / efficient / ergonomic. "Let's try XYZ Ultra Edition v.2.0 instead." But it's nothing more than a cheap excuse.

To cut the story short

  1. Tool(s) may be an answer. Sometimes. But you need a good story for that.

  2. Better start with thinking, it pays off, usually. Look for the root cause of the problem. 5 Whys rule helps a lot.

  3. Being dogmatic & opinionated is a 1st (or further) step to being a real a$$hole.

  4. Learn to detect, filter & substantively validate HiPPO (Highest Paid Person Opinion) - when dogmatic / opinionated, these may be very destructive for your whole organization.

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