Technological Tools: Help or Hindrance?

Time Management

Technological Tools: Help or Hindrance?
by Jeff Davidson



While advertising makes us feel as if we have to have the latest technology in order to stay competitive, this is usually not the case. This article explains that you should only invest in what will truly make you more efficient.

Scores of books and articles have been written about new technology, making the most of your on-line time, and how to not get left in the dust by all of the techno-twits that populate the cosmos. Contrary to most advice, the only time you have to adopt a new tool or technological device is when: (1) your organization or boss requires it, (2) your clients or constituents already use the technology, or (3) you would gain a strategic competitive advantage by doing so.

I discovered the latter by talking with industry gurus, reading objective commentary on new technology, and staying alert and open to new possibilities. Personally, I always let a younger person handle any technology issues I face-- 24-year-olds tend to know the latest devices like the back of their hands.

It is easy to get caught in the trap of acquiring some new tool of technology far in advance of your ability to use it, let alone benefit from it. In the mid to early 1980s, IBM, Apple, Tandy, Atari and other personal computer manufacturers launched vigorous campaigns to convince you, and everyone you know, that buying a computer was essential to your livelihood. Though they would soon be correct, they made it seem as if computers were essential to your career years before they actually were.

Promises, Promises

IBM featured a Charlie Chaplinesque character sitting at a keyboard, effortlessly punching in a few stokes, while the computer took the drudgery out of running a business. The advertisements conveyed the image that once you bought a PC, it would take next to nothing to plug in, get it up and running, and use a variety of software to instantly increase your efficiency as a manager.

Today you wouldn't think of doing a job without your PC. Yet, I bet you can't think of a single day when you sat at the keyboard, tapped a few keys, and had your department or business "running itself."

In 1995, the powers that be perpetrated new myths through mass advertising by suggesting that getting on-line, and tapping onto the Internet was the be-all and end-all. While there's no denying the awesome power of on-line information and communication services, it's important to keep things in balance.

"Driven by our obsession to compete, we've embraced the electronic god with a frenzy," says Bill Henderson, leader of the Lead Pencil Club. "Soon, blessed with the facts, voice, and e-mail, computer hook-ups and TVS with hundreds of channels, we won't have to leave our lonely rooms--not to write a check, work, visit, shop, exercise, or make love. We will have raced at incredible speeds to reach our final destination--nothing."

Perhaps he's a little emphatic, but look around your office and your home. Have you been caught in the trap of gathering information or acquiring an item far in advance of your ability to use it? Have you bought any technological items in the last two years that have largely sat there? Hardware and software, instruction manuals, scanners, additional printers, adapters, cassettes, videos, CD-ROMS, phone systems, fax machines, on-line connections, or on-line products and services?

Peter Drucker, the noted sage of management, made the observation that for new technology to replace old, it has to have at least "ten times the benefit" of its predecessor.

Technology Time Traps

All technology holds the potential to either help you be more efficient, or further slide you into the morass of the overwhelmed. In his book, Technopoly, Dr. Neil Postman says that with the introduction of any new technology into your life, there are both benefits and detriments. The manufacturers, advertisers, and dealers are adept at helping you focus on the benefits--especially in the rare case that you happen to become one of the world's expert users of the system they offer. How often, however, do you read about the downside of acquiring new tools and technology?

Consider the car phone: If you're the parent of two children, it can give you great comfort to call them via car phone after school. Car phones can indeed be wonderful tools. Some models respond to you by voice, confirming which key was compressed, or what option you've engaged. The newest models offer voice commands that enable you to "Call Joe Smith," "Call home," "Answer the phone," or "Hang up the phone."

Some car phones have built-in fax and data communications that allow for transmissions from your car. Some car phones connect to your horn, providing a security feature. Others allow for emergency dialing. Most have some type of anti-theft alarm. Some will dial your home or office when an intruder tries to make a call!

Cellular phone hardware comes with a variety of features: various levels of volume control or the option to engage different rings. A growing number offer wider display screens, brightly lit-up for easy use at night, speed dialing, speed re-dialing, and one-touch dialing.

What's the Downside?

When you place a car phone in your automobile, you may add a number of undesirable aspects to your life:

The ability of anyone to reach you at any time

Disturbance of one of the last sanctuaries that you had

Changing your brochures and business cards to reflect your car phone's number

The potential for driving less safely

Added expense as you engage in unnecessary conversations

The new-found annoying habit of making one extra call before reaching destinations -- to make sure that plans haven't changed

Heightened insecurity and anxiety

Another invoice to examine at the end of the month, and another check to write

Involuntarily opening up your perceptions to notice other ads about other cellular phone systems

The annoying feeling that your system is insufficient and maybe that you need more range, more power, less cost per call

It seems paradoxical that a device created to make you more efficient and save you time holds an equal potential for doing the opposite. The following is a gripping view of why this happens.

The Revenge Effect

"The Revenge Effect is the curious way the world has of getting even, defeating our best efforts to speed it up and otherwise improve it," says Professor Edward Tenner of Princeton University. The failure of technology to solve problems, according to Tenner, can often be traced to the interaction between machines and humankind. Freeways, intended to speed travel, lead to suburbs--urban areas sprawl out instead of up. This leads to an increase in commuting times. Because computers make it easy to copy and print files, we copy and print more, and our offices fill with paper.


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Jeff Davidson, MBA, CMC, is a popular conference speaker and author of 28 books, including Breathing Space (Feb 2000). For books, videos, cassettes, or presentations, visit http://www.BreathingSpace.com, FAX (919) 932-9982, or call (919) 932-1996.