Nearly as much as I love Sports, especially basketball, my mistress to hoop is technology. There are only 3 websites I read regularly on a daily basis: NBA Yahoo Sports (or Bleacher Report), the LA Times, and then Mac Rumors. I’m an Apple fanatic and a technology lover all the way. No, I don’t go sit in the lines outside Apple for new product releases (I’m too efficient and smart for that, I know how & WHEN to buy online and then waltz into the store and pickup my new toy) but I do love the new stuff.
But what I love more is how Technology can AFFECT our world. Here’s the mandate, though: it has to be effective, not just efficient.
Here’s an example.
You ever talk to say your Grandmother about the washing machine? They came out with this great new device to wash clothes and supposedly save all this time. But, do you really see people having more time because of the washing machine?
The 21st equivalent would be Facebook. Here’s a “tool” that supposedly makes our life better, make us more connected. And, it REALLY does. But if you don’t know how to use it, especially for business, a “tool” like Facebook or Twitter can suck more time than you can imagine. And, our world in 2014 is like that in so many places. Apps now are a “burden” not a blessing. This “cloud” thing confuses most people and takes more of their time.
What’s the common theme here? A new tool seems like it provides more time but in reality, it doesn’t.
My passion then is finding and USING the RIGHT technology to make your life not only more efficient but effective. Because as I’ve said, it’s not all about efficiency. You can be focused on the smallest, most meaningless task in your business and really bust it out and be super efficient in getting it done but if you didn’t really need to do the task or it could have been delegated, being efficient was still a waste of time. Follow that?
Here’s another little story. This business had a problem with their main network server. They couldn’t figure it out. Their IT Director spent hours and hours trying to fix it. They called in consultant after consultant to fix it but it still wouldn’t work. Finally, they got a recommendation about the so-called “IT Fixit Master.” This older guy came in, ran his hands all over the server, went over to his toolbox and snatched out a hammer. He walked back over to the server, held his finger in one place to mark a spot, and then raised his hammer, moved his finger out of the way and proceeded to bash the server. The entire piece of hardware sprung to life. The Fixit Master stood up, wrote out an invoice for $25,000 and handed it over. The CFO looked at the man and said “that’s a ton of money for only 5 minutes and hitting the machine with a hammer.” The Fixit Master didn’t blink an eye. He smiled and said, “it’s $1 for the hammer hit and $24,999 to know where to hit it.”
The moral of the story is that you have to KNOW how to use your tools. Technology is amazing. I read somewhere that our iPhones have more power in them than President Bill Clinton had at his disposal when he was the most powerful man in the free world in 1994. But that was 1994. You have to know how to use technology.
That’s where I come in. I’m a fanatic about technology. So, I’m constantly on the lookout for new stuff and I’ll share it with you but ONLY when I think it will contribute to saving you Time, not taking it away.