This one goes to Arjun, his undying love for technology, and to all the techie stuff he has got for home, to all my friends who embrace technology and to Tillis (Technology Illiterates) like Vishak and me ;)!!!
“Love technology” – that’s what my bro has to say about himself in Orkut. This statement has led me back to my old belief that my brother got mixed up with some other baby in the hospital when he was born. For, the statement is as far away from my heart as it can get, or so I thought till around 6 months ago…
Mind you, I am an electronics engineer. But I am one of those engineers who always knew at the back of her mind that she would not end up doing anything concerning microprocessors, electromagnetic waves and the works. One of those people who flamboyantly turned down IT jobs because of the “monotony” of the job profile and the “bonds” they came with (read the scare of getting stuck up with something you can’t stand). One of those who shyed away from technology so much that she didn’t take a single IT / systems paper during her management studies and convinced herself with self induced logical reasoning (“Who wants to get stuck up staring at a computer screen for 8+ hours everyday?”… “IT jobs stagnate beyond a certain level”…)
…And I happily strode into the world of sales. All was well till April 10th 2007, when my boss sits me down explaining the next assignment the organization has thought of for me. Spearheading technology initiatives for the organization. Why me? Because they feel, amongst other things, that I am comfortable with technology. This was the joke of the century to me. I candidly admit that all I do with technology is e-mail, chat and use MS Office applications…not to forget the “effective mobile technology” usage of course. I am told by our VP that all they are looking for is above average IQ. The little amount of self respect I have doesn’t allow me to wriggle out of the situation. The only thing I thought to myself was “Kadaiseela ennayum IT professional aakittaangale” (vis-à-vis Satyaraj’s trademark dialogue in “Amaidipadai” where he says, finally he too has been made a politician!!!)
To my credit, I took the role up with a positive mindset and thought to myself that this was the right time to get over the “technology aversiveness” I had developed over the years. Better to be forced into getting comfortable with something than try to evade it all your life. Plus at this day and age, it’s a shame to say that you are technophobic :P…
Looking back, the last few months have taught me a lot of things about technology in general…lemme sample a few…
Garun’s Golden Rule: “Using technology effectively is simple: All processes that are redundant need to be automated. This should be the guiding principle.”
I have found this rule very useful, atleast in my project. I simply look at tasks that keep repeating and then think through how we could get the work flow associated with the task automated. Is it always possible? I initially used to ask this question to my vendors and techie team and after some time, the answer to this question led me to my second important learning.
Kavi’s Gyanoday: “In technology, nothing is impossible”
Once in a vendor meeting, I requested a particular change in the application to which the tech support guy immediately said, “That is impossible”. He was immediately corrected by his project manager who butted in with, “Don’t say it is impossible, it is extremely difficult.” Requirements might be difficult, might involve unimaginable number of man hours of effort but they are almost never impossible and there are alwaaays ways to work around.
If I am not traveling, I sit in front of my comp for 8+ hours everyday. I send a lot of forwards. And I blog. Welcome to the world of IT, huh?!! ;)
“Love technology” – that’s what my bro has to say about himself in Orkut. This statement has led me back to my old belief that my brother got mixed up with some other baby in the hospital when he was born. For, the statement is as far away from my heart as it can get, or so I thought till around 6 months ago…
Mind you, I am an electronics engineer. But I am one of those engineers who always knew at the back of her mind that she would not end up doing anything concerning microprocessors, electromagnetic waves and the works. One of those people who flamboyantly turned down IT jobs because of the “monotony” of the job profile and the “bonds” they came with (read the scare of getting stuck up with something you can’t stand). One of those who shyed away from technology so much that she didn’t take a single IT / systems paper during her management studies and convinced herself with self induced logical reasoning (“Who wants to get stuck up staring at a computer screen for 8+ hours everyday?”… “IT jobs stagnate beyond a certain level”…)
…And I happily strode into the world of sales. All was well till April 10th 2007, when my boss sits me down explaining the next assignment the organization has thought of for me. Spearheading technology initiatives for the organization. Why me? Because they feel, amongst other things, that I am comfortable with technology. This was the joke of the century to me. I candidly admit that all I do with technology is e-mail, chat and use MS Office applications…not to forget the “effective mobile technology” usage of course. I am told by our VP that all they are looking for is above average IQ. The little amount of self respect I have doesn’t allow me to wriggle out of the situation. The only thing I thought to myself was “Kadaiseela ennayum IT professional aakittaangale” (vis-à-vis Satyaraj’s trademark dialogue in “Amaidipadai” where he says, finally he too has been made a politician!!!)
To my credit, I took the role up with a positive mindset and thought to myself that this was the right time to get over the “technology aversiveness” I had developed over the years. Better to be forced into getting comfortable with something than try to evade it all your life. Plus at this day and age, it’s a shame to say that you are technophobic :P…
Looking back, the last few months have taught me a lot of things about technology in general…lemme sample a few…
Garun’s Golden Rule: “Using technology effectively is simple: All processes that are redundant need to be automated. This should be the guiding principle.”
I have found this rule very useful, atleast in my project. I simply look at tasks that keep repeating and then think through how we could get the work flow associated with the task automated. Is it always possible? I initially used to ask this question to my vendors and techie team and after some time, the answer to this question led me to my second important learning.
Kavi’s Gyanoday: “In technology, nothing is impossible”
Once in a vendor meeting, I requested a particular change in the application to which the tech support guy immediately said, “That is impossible”. He was immediately corrected by his project manager who butted in with, “Don’t say it is impossible, it is extremely difficult.” Requirements might be difficult, might involve unimaginable number of man hours of effort but they are almost never impossible and there are alwaaays ways to work around.
If I am not traveling, I sit in front of my comp for 8+ hours everyday. I send a lot of forwards. And I blog. Welcome to the world of IT, huh?!! ;)
1 comment:
liked your post .. good work
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