An article by Scott Williams
published on 21 Sep 2023
Summary headline.
In this OPS:Innovator podcast episode, I spoke with Ben Dunn about working with emerging tech.
Here’s the tl;dr:
- Tech is moving in the direction of users
- Asking “I wonder if” is a great way to get started
- Hyper-personalise the way technology can be used in your business, and by whom
- There is no one best way when it comes to how we work
When you talk to someone like Ben, you quickly realise how much better you could be doing yourself in applying emerging technologies in your daily work. Some may not know how to get started even if it’s an exciting proposition. He reminds us that there is good news: the technology world is moving in their direction!
He reminds us that if we look at something like ChatGPT or other generative AI services out there, the whole point of them is that you don’t need to know how to code or fundamentally understand what’s going on at a detailed level behind the scenes. It’s built to communicate in full sentences, and since everyone reading this can already do that, there is nothing holding us back.
But, of course, that still leaves the question of how to get started. Ben suggests we simply begin with “I wonder if”. Whether it’s something in your work that you haven’t done before, or perhaps something you do all the time that you just want to do better, that thought is really all you need to get going. Thinking “There must be a faster, easier way to do this, and I suspect something like XYZ technology can help me” is the initial trigger, and according to Ben, is what an individual needs to bring to the party.
Not all companies make this easy, though. Have you ever wanted to try out some new technology only to find out that you can’t get to that site, install that app, or otherwise have otherwise been restricted by your IT team? Me too.
Our technology colleagues are doing their jobs, I know. Cyber risks are one of the biggest issues companies face today, and they need to be taken seriously. It’s not about just letting everything through, but could you let it through for just some people? This is where Ben introduces the idea of hyper-personalising all sorts of aspects of a company’s work, including the technology we use. He makes a good point; maybe he can simply be trusted more with emerging technology than I can. As much as I don’t like to think about it, he might be right. As organisations, we need to take a holistic view of our technology policies and, if we really want to enable innovative thinking and move the needle, like most of us say we want to do, then we need to think differently about who can access what technologies and when, and get away from the more black and white ‘yes/no’ approach.
And that leads us to the fact that there is always more than one way to do things. What Ben calls “the one best way”, can actually hold us back from thoughtful experimentation and innovative thinking that could make things better. Whether it’s when designing processes, documenting policies, choosing which technologies are permitted and which ones aren’t or just coming up with our ways of working, what would thinking differently about that concept open up for our colleagues? It can’t be a free-for-all, but it also doesn’t have to be so restrictive, does it? In my experience, the answer is no.
To hear more of this conversation or those with any of our other notable guests, check out OPS:Innovator wherever you get your podcasts or find all our shows on YouTube.
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