The least technology theorem

I am a self-confessed tech-enthusiast.

I simply have to check out every new Internet access device, every new piece of workflow/project management software, and upgrade each software on my Ubuntu desktop every single night.

One of the first things I did as a Networks VP for CEL was to get key people their own celbits.org email address. And through much of my academic year, I tried to get my Networks team as addicted to email as I had gotten. (At one point, my average turnaround time for email was under 7 minutes. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well.)

But this post is not about my addiction to technology. It is about a dark little secret I've discovered: the best way to use technology is to use as little of it as possible.

Let me elaborate (before I'm booed by fellow tech junkies).

Let's try and understand the situation.

Most people want to solve their problems: how can I double the number of participants for Conquest? How can I generate the maximum employment for a community of women? How can I teach a bunch of undergrad engineers how to write a biz-plan?

They aren't concerned about:

• Making data "seamlessly available everywhere"
• Reducing pdfs file size
  
• Answering email queries within 8 hours (especially when told McKinsey does it in 6)
  
• Creating documentation that can be studied by their successors
• Creating an enterprise knowledgebase
  

Notice that quite a few of these non-concerns are buzzwords today. And some of them are really important. But, of course, those aren't anybody's prime motivation to work.

So, what do we do? Here's the classic approach:

• Create a wiki. Send invites. Hope people work there instead of firing up Word
• Send email reminders to clear your inbox before you're done for the day
• Make mailing lists
  
• Coax someone to take meeting minutes and post the on the wiki
• Create an enterprise versionable file management system etc.

But all of these involve MORE WORK. Which distracts from solving Important Problems. And so, ultimately, never work.

The key, I now realize, is making people do less.

• Don't make a mailing list for every little project. Just add everyone in the "To:" field in the email, and use Reply All
• Forget the wiki, enterprise file management etc. Create an FTP server. People download the Word doc, change it, and save it on the server.
• Version control? Don't bother: folks are smart enough to call files Bizplan_rev2.doc, bizplan_final.doc etc
• Send minimum email. Don't discuss on email if you can avoid it (I have seen discussions/debates go on for weeks on email. A ten-minute phone call might have solved the issue)
• Keep email short. It is perfectly acceptable to say just "Ok."
• You don't need to reply to everything. (e.g. You mail your neighbor to just thank him for the file he sent)

This is not rocket-science, of course. But then, a few thumb-rules never hurt.

PS: This is also meant to help a recovering tech junkie like me. If you have more tips, leave them in the comments.

PPS: Oh yes, lest I forget-- scaling up is an issue with any low-tech solution. Don't bother about this until you actually reach a scale that is troubling your current system.