The Impact of Technology

All too often when implementing technology we sometimes get so hyper focused on the end post that we overlook the prolonged impact of that technology on the culture of what existed before.

In my world, a pencil is technology.??All too often, especially with sites like LinkedIn we focus on the new stuff, the next wave.??This is why I have my profile and account, so that I can stay current.??As I age or like a good scotch, mature over time, I sometimes look back on some of the technologies that altered the way people live and yet for many today, they would not even call it a technology.

So the two example below are just thoughts for the day.

1)?????In many parts of the world a water pump and/well is a life saver.??This same life saver has altered the daily routines of many in the community and has disrupted centuries of lived behaviour as they adapt to what so many others take for granted like a local source of running water.

2)?????Electricity for so many is the norm.??Our lives are defined by it.??What electricity did for many remote first nations was truly transformative culturally for it allowed for refrigeration to be used in their homes.?Today what we call a simple fridge or freezer became transformative in ways not understood by many outside the community.??A large moose has a lot of meat and other elements that traditionally were shared for the whole community so as to NOT waste the meat or hides.???Over decades, the introduction of electricity has altered the shared community concept for many First Nation communities

The only point I am making is that what we take for granted today will impact how we go forward along with alter the way we got to now.

The image above was from a presentation I was doing for a mobile transportation solution for a distribution company.??The company has a very long corporate history and moving to extend the walls of the organizations digitally to their customers will change the road ahead from a corporate culture perspective.??Internal processes that have had to exist for decades will need to change for the new processes do not require the same touches as the ones that got the organization to here successfully.

The two examples above are observations only, just one of those early morning coffee moments of taking a wider view before the current days events cause us to narrow our focus.

So before you make that business decision that requires technology, remember, that the technology will impact the business.

Now back to my coffee before I address my inbox.