The stuck bit

To follow my last posting on The fuzzy bit, another bug we had on our internally built motherboards were "stuck" bits (similar to stuck pixels on a monitor or flat-screen TV). These bits were much easier to diagnose and discover than a fuzzy bit, but pesky none the less.

Technology teams sometimes get viewed as the harbingers of No when it comes to working with the business. No, we are too busy. No, its too complicated. No, we can't reuse it. No, but you just won't understand why (the all-knowing IT). This comes from technologists being logical, binary engineers. And since saying yes would require knowing all the facts, and how can anyone know all the facts over a first conversation, they say no. They don't really mean no, in fact, they are often open to the idea, but that's not the message they send.

Technologists need to work on how to say "yes", without committing to deliverables in the same breath. Yes, that's a good idea. Yes, its worth further discussion. Yes, your business needs technology innovation. After all, the business sets the agenda, not technology. The answer should always be yes, it's just a matter of how, when, who and where (and how much $). Then your No bit will get unstuck.