In our increasingly digital world, we often assume that technology is the answer to every problem. After all, technology makes things faster, more efficient, and often more seamless. But sometimes, in our rush to automate and innovate, we forget to ask the more important question: What is the real problem we’re solving?
I was reminded of this recently through a story shared during a #CoffeeWithFriends session. The story involved a manager, a team presentation and eventually a quest for a costly technological solution that no one truly needed.
The situation started innocently enough. A team was preparing for an important presentation. Each team member was responsible for their own portion of the presentation deck. When it came time to consolidate the deck, the manager refused to have anyone compile the presentation. “Why should someone waste time collecting everyone’s slides?” he argued. Instead, he decided that each presenter would simply plug in their laptops one after another when presenting their part. What happened next was predictable.
During the presentation, there were awkward transitions, technical delays as presenters switched devices, and the inevitable incompatibilities between machines and projectors. What…
