Thinking Long-Term When Adopting New Technology

Problem

I expect a very high standard of service from the people who work for us. I do what I can to ensure that the goals of each initiative are laid out clearly and that everybody involved is sticking to them. When something comes up, we are able to provide our users with the highest quality experience possible.

I joined my previous company, and one of the things that I saw was that many of the people were very into politics and the status quo instead of the work to be done. After gaining some seniority, I felt comfortable challenging some of the things that I saw. Sometimes, the people I confronted were not able to come up with a satisfactory answer as to why they were behaving in the way that they were.

Actions taken

During one of these times, we were talking about technology and the possibility of upgrading our stack. We came up with our final decisions after some amount of research and deliberation. The front-end engineers, conversely, were not as engaged with the work as we were.

With technology, you always have to be learning as much as you can about new things. It makes you more adaptable as a professional. With this knowledge, you can convince your team with concrete facts that will help you all come to the correct conclusion together. These tendencies are critical when choosing a new tool or adopting a new type of technology into your company.

I took some time to reach out to these teammates, encouraging them to look deeply into all of the facts and the possibilities. I urged them not to just go with what somebody tells them to go with. I emphasized the importance of making decisions that would serve us in the long run, as well. After having this discussion, we were able to work something out that benefited everybody.

Lessons learned

• When making long-term decisions, you should always be thinking about what the company will be needing two or three years down the line. Trends will come and go. Once you have some data, you can then start to go over those pros and cons.
• As an engineer, you need to be able to sell the technology and methodology of your preference.
• Take your time to do your homework and to think about the issues that may make you less confident. Then, you can go and jump into it with some sense of where you would like to go.