Sharpen the saw

It’s the only tool you use…

“Me and technology are not a good mix”… “I’m a bit shit with technology”…

These quotes may well have been acceptable in the 90’s, probably even for the first decade of the 21st century but are they acceptable now? I’m running the risk of being a little pedantic in this blurb but sometimes the almost cliché expressions we use leave the wrong impression….

It’s often quite the opposite, most of the people I hear using these quotes are actually pretty good at adopting and utilising the various tech within their working day. It’s usually one of two things, a little magnanimity about their abilities or they benchmark themselves against the wrong metrics. Without mixing my words here, saying “I’m no good with technology” when the only tool we use is a computer is pretty close to saying “I’m not very good at my job”, which is often far from the truth.

Imagine walking onto a building site for your first day as an apprentice and hearing this advice… “That’s Bob over there, 40 years in the game, ask him anything you like, he knows it all, but please don’t let him near any of the tools, he’s bloody hopeless with them.”

Of course, the often-overwhelming bombardment of new technology is a tough one to deal with but the sharpen the saw philosophy still stands. Taking a small manageable slot out of each day to look at one relevant aspect of the applications we use, quickly adds up. We may use email every day but just checking what’s new every now and then can turn up little gems that over time reduces frustration and helps enhance the work we do…. After all, the machines are there to free up time for more coffee, aren’t they…?