How to Hire the Right Tools for the Job
Published by Linda Rolf on 5/18/2021
Recently a business owner sighed and said, "I just want one solution that does it all". Since I had heard that same comment the previous day from someone else, I couldn't let this moment slip away.
Naturally, my first question was "what exactly is
it"?
Can't It Just Be Simple?
Our businesses have a lot of moving parts. It's only natural to seek simplicity, and technology seems like the thing that should make easy happen. But here's the funny thing about technology. It isn't simple when you peek under the covers. Click that link, and you're using a web application in a matter of milliseconds. If you're curious about the long trip and stops that single click takes, you can
follow the trip here. What happened to simple?
But back to the one all-powerful tool that does everything.
. . .
Hiring for the Job You Need Done
When you have a specific role to fill in your organization, do you try to hire one person who can do everything in the company? Of course not. The same is true for hiring the right technology for each job in your delivery process.
I asked this fellow business owner to tell me what happens when someone buys his product. As we walked through each step from sale to product delivery and then the ongoing customer engagement, the list of jobs that he needed to be done grew.
. . .
It Takes a Team of Tools
Instead of a single tool that did everything, he described a team of technology coworkers each doing what it does best.
Researching, evaluating, deciding, and implementing the right tools for each job can feel tedious and time-consuming. Not only do you need to check the right-now boxes but also think strategically.
What are the must-have jobs this solution needs to perform?
What other jobs can it do that you might need in the future?
If you don't need these jobs done, just don't pay attention to them. The value to you is in the job the tool does well.
How is what you're doing today going to change as your company grows and changes?
Is this solution one that will adapt and support you in 1-3-5 years?
Does it matter?
The list goes on.
. . .
It's OK
The purpose of this short post isn't how to identify and find the right tools to hire. That's a project for another day. Instead. it's to reassure you that you can confidently put this distracting notion to rest -- there is not one solution that does it all. Your company is free to focus on a flexible collection of "its" that does the best job now and can coexist with new coworker tools in the future.
P.S. One final thought. Schedule regular performance reviews with your technology tools. Are they each doing the best job for you? If not, it might be time to find a better solution for that job.
Tags: Technology Strategy
. . .
Linda Rolf is a lifelong curious learner. She is fueled by discovering the unexpected connections among technology, data, information, people and process. For more than four decades, Linda and Quest Technology Group have been their clients' trusted advisor and strategic partner. They actively contribute to each client's success through mutual collaboration, thoughtful business analysis, enterprise software development, technology integration, database design and management, opportunity discovery, business growth strategy, and marketing initiatives.
They believe that lasting value and trust are created through continuously listening, sharing knowledge freely and delivering more than their clients even know they need. As the CIO of their first startup client said, "The value that Quest brings to Cotton States is far greater than the software they develop."
