Sometimes it is about the technology

It’s not about the technology, its about the people.

It’s a phrase I’ve uttered probably more than a thousand times in the last five years. It stems from the understanding that technologies will come and go (quickly, almost at a whim) but behaviours change slowly and as a result we should focus our attention on cultivating the behaviours we want to see within our organizations, not chasing shiny new objects across the internet.

But at a certain point – and I just might be there for a couple of very specific work related reasons right now – it is about the technology.

It’s about access to the tools I need to do the job the way it needs to be done; or perhaps more rightly the way I know it could be done if I had access to the tools to it.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a little tired of being asked to build a house with only a hammer

Don’t get me wrong, I still completely agree with Clay Shirky when he says that the tools don’t truly get interesting until the technology gets boring; but I am also of the mind that if we want to jump start the culture we need to be able to experiment within the adjacent possible and in so doing show people the art of the possible.

Without even blinking, I can name at least three things we (at the officer level) need better access to: crowd-sourcing technology, data visualization tools, and live dashboards with the latest business intelligence.

I wish I had a snappy conclusion, and I apologize now for the abrupt ending, but all I can think of is this.

Originally published by Nick Charney at cpsrenewal.ca

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