Technology Isn't Always The Answer

I'm an avid reader of the ITtoolbox Blogs and a posting that came in today (link) made for interesting reading. The main point of the article was to discuss some thought processes that are used to rate new ideas. The conclusions were as follows:

The "greater good" or "the good of the masses" - The process or problem has to be of a certain size and must be substantial. Develop your measurements according to the type and size of the business that you are serving. The criteria to be considered substantial will differ greatly depending on the environment in which you find yourself.

Solve core process issues and needs - Drill down into the surface process or problem. Don't just treat the symptoms - find the disease. How does the process or problem relate to the critical functions of the business?

Ask yourself this - If I could implement my change tomorrow what immediate and measurable impact would it make? If you can't list at lease 3 substantial impacts to critical functions you need to rethink. If you can list 3 you need to return to the "greater good" and critical function analysis - make sure it will serve the greater good and will make a medium to substantial impact on at least one critical function.

Don't be taken in by the latest and greatest - a year ago I was enamored with new BI applications - today I'm not happy with them. Always look forward.

While I don't necessarily agree with all of the comments made by the author, I particularly liked the last comment. Don't you find it true that there is a lot of hype these days about how great the next BI idea is and how it will revolutionize what we do? It is interesting to look back, as the author comments, one year ago and see just how few of the "hit" ideas from then actually made it through to today. Many are still being touted as the way to go. I'm sure you can name some of them.