The right tools

I have been meeting with a ton of folks lately and hearing stories from others in the IT world.

Beyond the usual bingo card of popular terms like AI or Cloud, a consistent theme has been heard throughout:

Operational Efficiency.

Which as a guy who worked his way up (a few times) from a tier one role, is music to my ears.

Everyone is angling for that coveted spot as THE tool that will lower ticket counts, make things faster, better — they have the technology!!

And the right tools are incredibly important.

But any tool’s efficacy is determined by the team wielding it.

If your team hasn’t been enabled to succeed, is focused on “new shiny”, or not properly motivated — investments in enhanced tooling often become boondoggles.

Until we can automate everything, the primary role of IT is that of translator between user expectations, business goals, and technological capabilities.

That’s why, more and more, the most valuable skillset to maximum effort efficiency, is communication or “soft” skills.

Let the AI do what it does best, spit out information quickly.

Rote memorization of factoids does not an IT leader make. Although it can be fun to spit out some gems from time to time.

Be the bridge, and make your unit as efficient as possible.

Leave ego at the door and make your goal to always improve.

When you start leading from that mindset, the right people will follow and the best tools will rise to the top.

TL:DR Invest in yourself, your team, and your processes — the right tools will adapt to your team, not drag you down.