Imagine being in a room full of CEOs and business leaders gathered to hear from a presenter. The presenter, wanting to get a feel for opinions in the room asks you to use your phone to read a QR code and go to a site and answer questions related to the topic and see results on the screen real time.

Sounds cool, right? Believe me, as an audience member, it wasn’t. It was a total time suck.

The process was PAINFULLY slow and did not add anything to the presentation that a simple “show of hands” could not have accomplished.

Tech is great, but only when skillfully applied.

Keep that in mind next time you are considering any new tech solution.

First, focus on the WHAT and the WHY. (More sales, better customer experience, effective lead management, greater cost control, improved production, etc.)

And THEN move to the HOW. Or better yet, WHO. (As in: Who can I hire or task to do this?)

Clear objectives narrow the field of options and help you move faster and with more confidence.

Tech is great, but just having it is not a guarantee of success. I think Silicon Valley Bank had a bunch of tech too. Little good that it did them.