Trust & Technology
I was in a client’s office last week. This gentleman has been a local community pillar, and has served as president of a large, local bank for decades.
On his desk sits a computer. The screen, full of yellow and pink post-it notes.
When I asked him why he doesn’t use his computer, he responded “Oh, I don’t trust computers.”
He said it with pride - as if it made him more successful and more focused as a leader to be without a computer. After all, Warren Buffet doesn’t use a computer. Therefore, if I don’t use my computer, I am Warren Buffet.
Puke.
The big problem with this situation is this: as a bank president, his ENTIRE BUSINESS has depended on computer technology since the late 1970’s. His bank, today, provides online banking, online bill pay, and his bank has a website full of online information about different financial products.
His confession of mistrust of technology should make me question the trustworthiness of his entire institution. Ask THAT question and you’ll see a deer in headlights.
Somewhere, among the old, crusty, stuffy businessmen, being anti-technology is a sign of strength. By sheer will, these men think they ensconce themselves in a world set apart; they drive their expensive (or modest) cars and dictate letters over their cell phones as if the rest of the world is too distracted to achieve their level of success.
Fundamentally, a distrust of the computer on your desk is fear of your own ignorance. Our entire modern lives are completely dependent on the successful operation of hundreds of thousands of computers: from what’s on our desk, to what’s in our car, to what’s in our doctor’s office, to how we communicate via land line, cell phone, or even what we watch on TV.
Even that newspaper you read every morning would not be there - and be “trustworthy” - without computers.
Old dogs didn’t grow up with technology. Admitting ignorance and asking for help, is, apparently, the worlds most shameful crime, punishable by exile from the elite group of techno-phobes that still think they matter.
The fact is this: success comes from adaptation and learning. Status Quo mediocrity gets you tired, poor, and old.
If you can’t learn something new, it’s a sign you no longer have the patience or the will power to be truly effective. You’ve plateaued. You’ve reached your summit. Now get the hell out of the way!
Companies like Google, Microsoft, and Cisco are running circles around your business. They not only understand technology, but they understand how to apply technology. Now, you’ll never understand technology completely - but that’s not the point. Puffing up your ego by stating that you don’t “trust” an inanimate object and in doing so are wiser for it, reveals to us “young bucks” that you’re in the headlights and ready to be run over.