Obsessed with tools? Procrastinate much?
Dmitry Fadeyev, one of the most practical usability experts I've read opinions from, wrote this blog post about obsession with tools. He says that the obsession with tools is often linked to procrastination - so if you're always investigating new ways of doing things, are you actually doing anything at all? Interestingly, Service Central is all about technology and we're all a little obsessed with finding new tools and being more efficient. I wonder whether our registered businesses, who use tools in the 'normal' sense of the word, are just as obsessed? And where do you find out about these new tools?
Service Central staff use a variety of ways to find out about new tools - and it's safe to assume that most of these ways either involve people or technology. We don't go to a 'new tool' shop to browse, but we do sign up to relevant RSS feeds, newsletters and review sites. We also talk to people - whether in forums online or colleagues and friends. There's often a ruckus around someone's desk where they've called someone over to look at something and the rest of us hear the buzz and traipse over to poke fun or speculate about how we could use the tool as a business.
In our trades businesses, it must be both different and the same. Having a quick look online, there doesn't seems to be much about new products or reviews of these products, but there are of course online versions of trade publications (although US based eg Tools of the Trade) and manufacturers new product releases, brochures and demos in hardware stores across the country. I also have a picture in my mind of someone bringing a shiny new tool to site and having other trades (maybe not even in the same trade!) clustered around the tool, having pretty much the same discussion as we'd be having in the Service Central office.
But is this procrastination? Nope. Or at least, not enough procrastination to have the effect Dmitry talks about where nothing actually gets done. Possibly because in both of our businesses, we are always focussed on the task at hand, and we both have demanding customers that want to see results. Plus, any minor procrastination we might do more than pays off in the long term, because tools are at the very centre of our businesses and gives us the edge on both quality and speed.
We'd love to know where our registered businesses find out about new tools, and which new tools have made an impact on your business and why? Email suggestions@servicecentral.com.au with your feedback.
