It Seems To Me

Thoughts and Rants on Technology, Business and Politics

I have worked in the technology industry for almost 15 years. Throughout that time I have become fascinated with technology and its ability to increase productivity. I bought my first PDA (the HP 95LX) back in 1991 to keep track of a mountain of tasks. The little marvel helped me stem the flow of ToDo's that had previously been slipping through the cracks. Ten PDAs later I am as big a fan as ever of technology's ability to help people and organisations function more effectively.

The hardware and software vendors have capitalized on this potential. The gospel of productivity is woven into the marketing message of every company offering goods and services in the technology sector. The reality is that technology cannot stand alone to improve an organisation’s output. A number of other key elements must synchronize with the technology to deliver sustained productivity. A well defined organisation with clear roles and responsibilities must also be in place. Processes must be a natural part of the environment using industry standard methodologies where appropriate. Finally, the culture must be imbued with an attitude that technology is to be leveraged and exploited. All of theses elements can deliver world class organisational efficiency with sustained improvements in output. When they are in balance the resulting organisation is a powerhouse of efficiency that learns and becomes more productive as it grows.

I have expanded each of these ideas into an article titled The Four Pillars of Productivity. A pdf version is available here.