How to wisely assess new vs old technology for work tasks

This piece has been inspired by three things:

• A post I shared on LinkedIn that you can view in the picture below
• A lyric from Slipknot song by Slipknot
• A movie called the Intern starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway – an odd combo I’m aware.

My context in releasing the LinkedIn post was initially to start a conversation on not discarding what we already have in favour of what’s trendy.

Something we all fall prey to.

Days after I posted this, I began reflecting on what this philosophy could mean for both personal use and in particular the L&D industry.

I mean, we love a good old bit of buying the new flashy tech, don’t we?

Why old does not mean dead and new does not mean best with technology

Just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s obsolete.

Much like something new doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for you to use.

As we speak, the typical employee has over 88 workplace apps at their disposal. While that might sound amazing, it’s actually proven to be crippling.

Many of us suffer from paralysis by analysis.

In this case, which tool to use from the candy store of choice that we have. More choice is not always a good thing. Often we just need to know the best tool for the task at hand.

How to get untangled from technology overload

It doesn’t matter if you’re in the process of procuring new tech for work or for your personal needs.

This 3-step framework will help you make smarter tech buying decisions.

1/ Scout

For work: Engage with your local technology infrastructure team to understand what applications your company currently has that could solve the challenge you face. 

Your infrastructure teams are normally responsible for managing a company’s workplace technology stack.

They’ll be able to advise on what could be useful to achieve your goals. You might just find that you have what you already need.

For personal: Firstly, check your phone.

Smartphones are experts at hiding good stuff from us. I know I’ve been fooled into many duplicate apps. This also serves as a good exercise for intentional app use.

Second, you want to check out your laptop and/or PC.

Explore your apps tabs to get a full run down on the chaos that’s probably occurring. Make a shortlist of potential apps that you own which could solve your task.

Keep this list handy for our next steps.

2/ Investigate

There’s a high probability that you have applications in your workplace technology stack today which are being underutilised. 

Many of today’s modern tools do much more than one thing.

You’ll find almost 99% include more product features.

If you’re using a product that is well-adopted within the company already, it’s worthwhile exploring if it offers any other features that can serve your needs.

Too many times companies make new purchases without fully understanding what their current commonly-used apps could offer.

Don’t make that same mistake!

The same principles apply for your personal use.

Think you need Adobe Photoshop when your task is more at a Canva-level? Get clear on your task before diving into the tool.

3/ Reflect

The last part of our process is to take time to reflect on what you’ve discovered.

You may find you have what you need or that you do need to make that new purchase. Whatever the outcome, taking a moment to consider the impact of each option on time to deploy, cost and learning curve for employees are essential factors to evaluate.

Perhaps by trying these approaches you too can improve performance through technology in your company. 

You can use these same principles for personal tasks.

Our factors of:

• Cost
• Learning curve
• Time to complete tasks

Are all incredibly important in maximising your productivity.

It was Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, who said

“Doing more with less means applying technology to amplify what you can do and what an organization can achieve in today’s world”.

Final thoughts

In sum:

• Make sure to review and use every option at your disposal
• Just because something is old this doesn’t mean it’s obsolete
• Just because something is new and trendy doesn’t mean that it’s going to be the best solution for the task at hand.

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