The Danger of Technosolutionism
Technology is amazing and its impact on civilization mind-boggling. Because of all the advancements and conveniences, we’ve developed a love affair with tech, and some believe it’s the solution to every problem.
However, not every tech program goes smoothly. PMI found that one in five enterprise projects fails to meet business goals. The GAO states, “Each year, the federal government invests more than $100 billion on IT. However, for several decades, IT investments too frequently fail or incur cost overruns and schedule slippages while contributing little to mission-related outcomes.” And, according to a MIT study, 95% of enterprise Gen AI pilot projects don’t show measurable financial returns within six months.
Is this because the tech is bad? Sometimes. But more often it’s how tech is implemented. Some common problems:
· Applying tech for tech’s sake when it isn’t really needed. Do you need heated seats, a Bluetooth toothbrush, or a Kindle rather than an old school book? Your choice. For some they’re a necessity, but for others it’s just more to break, unneeded cost and complexity, and limited, even negative, value. Not every problem needs a tech solution.
· Poor requirements and use cases that don’t directly support operational needs.
· Putting too much faith in tech while ignoring people, processes, and the operating environment.
· Rollout without proper change management, to include training, that causes user rejection or confusion.
· Expending effort to automate things that are fundamentally broken or shouldn’t exist in the first place.
· Throwing tech against the wall and hoping it sticks without doing necessary prep work.
· Lack of leadership and management support.
· Spending enough money to initiate a program, but not enough to make it successful.
· Letting technical and governance issues take over and drive the project further away from what users actually need.
Tech won’t be successful without a holistic approach encompassing policy, culture, learning, workflows, and myriad other issues, during design and over the lifecycle. All must work in harmony towards a unified purpose.
People with diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases take a pill to improve their condition. That pill has limited success without proper diet and exercise, and stopping destructive behavior.
Tech is like the pill. It can only do so much if other things are working against it. And, if you don’t have a problem, don’t feel compelled to take the pill just because others are doing it.