Looking for the next BIG THING!!

There is always the cool item on the horizon.  The next tool that YOU MUST HAVE!!  Something that your Team cannot do without, or that cool presentation at the conference that took you by the shirt and shook you until you could do nothing else but think about IT!!

It's something all too familiar to many of us.  We want to improve, we want to be current, no one wants to be left behind or fail at being competitive.  A lot of this is psychological, we're human and in some ways the tools, with savvy marketing behind them, know how to get inside your head and get you thinking about them.  It's not a bad thing, but falling for it without knowing is.  Don't just jump into something without checking it out first, spend time looking at those tools and seeing if they will work.  Talk to co-workers, do a POC, and make sure the fit is right.

A warm glove is just as good when made out of different materials, but if you need to use your fingers, a mitten won't work. Check the fit, ensure that what you innovate or enhance meets the needs of the Teams that will use it, and that the Teams have the background to readily accept the change.  Nothing gets a nose out of joint than a tool you are forced to use that doesn't meet all the needs of a Team.

When looking to make improvements I look at the following questions to start.

• Is this a programming language the Team already knows?
• Does the interface merge with the existing without a lot of retraining?
• Can you slip this into the builds and use it without people noticing?  The best updates are those invisible to the Users, they suddenly find their existing functionality works, and they have new options.  WIN!
• Does it fit the culture?  The worst changes require significant retraining.

When working with people, they have emotions, feelings, and wants same as you.  Ensure you meet them and people will accept what you offer, when you give them junk, expect complaints.