Non-Technology Thinking
Synchronized, sealed, variable, interface and even tool. These words all conjure up very specific things in the mind of a programmer or IT person. Much to my surprise they hold very different meanings for non-technology people - well at least the word "tool". This last week, I was invited to attend a meeting of the Arlington Business Council. It was their spring kick off event and it was very well organized and attended.
The variety of the business people present was quite amazing - from Creative Facilitating to Marketing Professionals to a Personal Concierge and even a Photographer and that was just my table! To put this in context, I am used to attending programmer events or Microsoft Partner events where everyone is either into C#/VB.NET or AppDev (Application Development), BizDev (Business Development) or Managed Services (those wonderful folks who manage your servers and networks for your small to midsize business). I promptly sat down at the table where the conversation was to be "Tools for your Business" thinking that I could learn the pains of different businesses and what software we could build to solve these issues - yes, I admit it, I was looking to sponge off some smart people for ideas.
We started with a pleasant green salad with raspberry vinaigrette. Introductions went around the table and then a conversation began on tools to use to grow a fledgling business. The central idea that emerged was delegation. In growing Thycotic, delegation has been key in moving to each next level so I was very much in agreement but then it hit me. They considered delegation a tool ... we then moved on to further tools such as Asking for Referrals. This was clearly not what I had expected ... in my mind a tool is a BlackBerry, mobile device or a piece of software. I would consider delegation simply a technique or process but not a tool. Maybe it is just my immersion in technology or my lack of exposure to non-technology focused people but I struggled a little with this leap.
Needless to say but I did not get any new software potential ideas from the group but I did gain some insight on the world outside of IT and how sometimes our ideas and thinking do not translate well. This is definitely food for thought (by the way, the hangar steak, risotto and desserts at Restaurant Vero were also fabulous!). I think any Independent Software Vendor (ISV) should consider this carefully when looking to solve problems in the real world. Remember to think in terms of business, pains and solving real day to day problems rather than simply technology. Remember also to understand and communicate in the language of your customer.
Have you had any strange technology moments with non-technology people?
Jonathan Cogley is the CEO and founder of Thycotic Software, a .NET consulting company and ISV in Washington DC. Our product, Secret Server is a enterprise password manager system for teams to secure their passwords. Where do you keep your passwords or do you still use the same password everywhere?