Control Technology, Not Let It Control You

If you have a pointy-haired boss dictating the direction of technology the company is going to take, run away fast.

Two and a half years ago, I was still working at a big company, when this actually happened. What did I do? I ran.

Don't get me wrong, I mean the company was very good and the bosses are nice and caring. Heck one time I was so sick, the boss was nice enough to offer to pay for a full medical check up. I didn't take him up on his offer though because I hate to feel indebted to anybody. But just because you read about it in "tech du jour" magazine does not mean you have to change your whole software department to use it. It is as silly as proclaiming you are a neurosurgeon after reading "Brain Surgery for Dummies". By the way, I did eventually went for a medical check up, and found out I had hypertension aka high blood pressure. So now I have to take some medicine every day until the day I die to prevent my heart from exploding or something. Just like that Ironman guy with that thingamajig that prevents his heart from melting.

The thing is, if you are running a technology integration firm you need to know that you need to use the right tool for the right job. You don't use a hammer to chop down a tree. You don't use a saw to hammer in nails. And you most definitely don't use a screwdriver to saw a piece of wood in half.

How bad could the situation be when technology that you boss chose just because it is over-hype as "poised to take over the world by storm" or "with this technology you will never have to code again"?

Imagine this scenario. You pointy-haired boss came upon a Predator wrist equipment. Now this equipment can cloak your boss, display real-time 3d mapping images, or cause a nuclear explosion. Now imagine your boss randomly pressing some buttons. What are the chances of him pressing the button that activates nuclear explosion?