The number of companies who want to do change but are held to ransom by their 'George in the Basement' IT guy is frustrating - domain expertise on legacy systems is a great card to play but there's no going back once it has been played - avoiding upskilling is a terrible act of self-sabotage
While I was never George, I definitely spent too much time in too many IT basements and they are as dismal as the people stuck working in them. So, this is as much to free companies from the tyranny of the old, as well as to let George and Georgina see the sunlight.
The data entry woman haunts me. I worked with someone like that in 2008 - she did the same Excel updates for 15 years. Then we implemented an automated system that did in a few hours what took her 25 hours a week. The company offered to train her on new skills, but she refused. She took severance instead. I think about her whenever I'm tempted to get comfortable. Comfortable is dangerous Andrew.
Exactly, and one of the reasons tech can be so exhausting. My data entry woman was physically and audibly impressive. It was one of those old terminals where the keyboard was fixed to the screen and her fingers would literally FLY across the ten-key. But yeah, one day she was just gone and we didn’t miss a beat.
Someone can be really good at what they do, impressive even, and then they're gone and the company just... moves on. No wonder people don't invest in their work anymore.
Microsoft accidentally built a decent laptop with a good OS in 2016. The thing lasted too long, so they stopped making it. The Chromebook I'm using now costed under $200.00 and is still running fine after 8 years, but no more updates anymore, and there's room to do them. They want me to buy another Chromebook, and I'll eventually have to. I know tech is constantly evolving and this thing won't be able to keep up forever, but I'm not buying a new one until I absolutely have to.
Great article, my one criticism would be that CEOs are a lot more replaceable than the people who do the actual work.
You’ll go broke making computers that last! You’re right about CEOs being more replaceable but people know those names. When I was in the thick of it, you could pick out the indispensable engineers and it wasn’t because they stayed in their lane, but because they were insatiable.
Spot on. I've worked with quite a few people who fell into that trap. Most of them added the feature of never wanting to share with their colleagues - leading to much love for them in the team :)
One thing I beg to disagree, a little, on - I'm not sure how great Apple is doing after Jobs. Maybe the revenue and profits are still rolling along. but making legit Apple Things, I would say not so much.
This is excellent advice. As someone who is on the small business employer side of things, I want all of our workers to do this. I don't like the idea of any of my companies sitting still, nor of being afraid of change.
The number of companies who want to do change but are held to ransom by their 'George in the Basement' IT guy is frustrating - domain expertise on legacy systems is a great card to play but there's no going back once it has been played - avoiding upskilling is a terrible act of self-sabotage
While I was never George, I definitely spent too much time in too many IT basements and they are as dismal as the people stuck working in them. So, this is as much to free companies from the tyranny of the old, as well as to let George and Georgina see the sunlight.
I fear some George’s might turn into dust in the sunlight but the thought of freeing them from captivity to the past is a lovely thought
The data entry woman haunts me. I worked with someone like that in 2008 - she did the same Excel updates for 15 years. Then we implemented an automated system that did in a few hours what took her 25 hours a week. The company offered to train her on new skills, but she refused. She took severance instead. I think about her whenever I'm tempted to get comfortable. Comfortable is dangerous Andrew.
Exactly, and one of the reasons tech can be so exhausting. My data entry woman was physically and audibly impressive. It was one of those old terminals where the keyboard was fixed to the screen and her fingers would literally FLY across the ten-key. But yeah, one day she was just gone and we didn’t miss a beat.
It’s true.
Someone can be really good at what they do, impressive even, and then they're gone and the company just... moves on. No wonder people don't invest in their work anymore.
Microsoft accidentally built a decent laptop with a good OS in 2016. The thing lasted too long, so they stopped making it. The Chromebook I'm using now costed under $200.00 and is still running fine after 8 years, but no more updates anymore, and there's room to do them. They want me to buy another Chromebook, and I'll eventually have to. I know tech is constantly evolving and this thing won't be able to keep up forever, but I'm not buying a new one until I absolutely have to.
Great article, my one criticism would be that CEOs are a lot more replaceable than the people who do the actual work.
You’ll go broke making computers that last! You’re right about CEOs being more replaceable but people know those names. When I was in the thick of it, you could pick out the indispensable engineers and it wasn’t because they stayed in their lane, but because they were insatiable.
Spot on. I've worked with quite a few people who fell into that trap. Most of them added the feature of never wanting to share with their colleagues - leading to much love for them in the team :)
One thing I beg to disagree, a little, on - I'm not sure how great Apple is doing after Jobs. Maybe the revenue and profits are still rolling along. but making legit Apple Things, I would say not so much.
This is excellent advice. As someone who is on the small business employer side of things, I want all of our workers to do this. I don't like the idea of any of my companies sitting still, nor of being afraid of change.
We all have to remain nimble.
I think I would have enjoyed working with you Andrew. You’re the opposite of full of shit, whatever that is.
Haha tx Tom! Same and I think we’ve both seen our share of the full-of-shitters!