Step away from the pricing page

There’s this reflex I keep spotting in organisations: when some process isn’t working, find a new tool to fix it with.

The Todo list is full of unfinished tasks? Get a fancy AI-powered project management tool. Drowning in emails? Get a new messaging platform. Too many meetings? Invest in a new scheduling tool.

Every problem isn’t a technology problem, though.

In many cases it’s just a standard messy analogue problem: a communication problem, a process problem, even a “nobody’s writing things down” problem.

Sorting it out might just need a checklist, an actual conversation, or a Monday-morning stand-up.

But that doesn’t feel like a solution, does it? There’s no fancy logo, no pricing page, no impressive promises… You can’t stick it in a slide deck or show everyone a demo…

This has a name: techno-solutionism. The idea that every problem can be solved with technology – you just need to find/buy the right one.

It’s a powerful bias (I fall for it regularly). The tech industry loves it too and spends a lot of money to make sure it gets reinforced every day.

I’m not anti-technology (I’d have had a very short career if I was), but choosing the right technology sometimes means choosing no technology.

Every tool comes other costs: account management, data protection, maintenance, training. It’s not just a monthly payment.

So, next time your mouth is watering at some new tool you think will solve all your problems, ask yourself this: what would we do if this tool didn’t exist? And, if the answer is something simple that already works, maybe do that instead.

Colin