Back before the Apple stores were grand meeting places with trees growing out of them, I worked in a tiny Apple Store. It was functional chaos from the moment we opened the doors.
I loved teaching seniors how to pinch and zoom on their first iPads. I loved helping fathers locate their daughters’ lost iPod. I even loved the horde of teenagers that would come in and take Photo Booth photos on the iMacs.
The pairing of people and technology is a wonderful combination, and I’ve lived my life with the mindset that tech thrives on connections from people, and vice versa.
What truly excites me are all the possibilities that technology offers and I believe that having this optimistic viewpoint is the best mindset, especially at work.
Technology has this amazing ability to bring us closer together, no matter where we are in the world. It’s like having a superpower that lets us communicate, collaborate, and share ideas with just a few clicks or taps. From Zoom calls with colleagues on the other side of the globe to Slack channels buzzing with creativity, technology has revolutionized the way we connect and work together.
But here’s the thing – behind every digital solution or groundbreaking innovation, there’s a person with a spark of creativity and a drive to make things happen. That’s where we come in. We’re the ones who dream big, think outside the box, and turn those crazy ideas into reality. It’s our human touch that gives technology its soul and its purpose.
So, here are three ways you can channel a tech optimist mindset and make your work better.
Be more curious
Being curious used to take a lot of time.
Now with Chat GPT at our fingertips and a plethora of tutorials and software for designers and marketers, tech allows us to fuel creativity and curiosity like never before. Whether it’s using AI to tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges, harnessing the power of data to make smarter decisions, or creating mind-blowing experiences with virtual reality, the sky’s the limit.
Next time try looking at a task, a brief, or a new project with a sense of wonder, and your ideas will come easier.
Throw out your existing playbook
The global pandemic forced us as creatives and marketers to rethink the future of events, employee communications, meetings… the list goes on. If we’re going to fully harness the power of technology and people, we need to be willing to throw out old playbooks and embrace change with open arms.
Something important to remind yourself: Just because it worked before, doesn’t mean you can’t reimagine it. Before you go back into your routine tactics, ask yourself why:
- Why are we doing things this way? Is there a better way to achieve our goals?
- Is there is a way to make this more enjoyable?
- Is there is a way to make this more sustainable?
These are questions that will spark innovation and drive progress. So, before you slip back into your routine tactics, take a step back and ask yourself why. Because when we’re willing to throw out the old and reimagine the new, that’s when the real magic begins.
Connect the dots
Technology helps us see a bigger picture, stay connected with more people, and have greater access to the world around us. With tools like Slack, I can easily connect and check in with my coworkers. Through Google Home I can set reminders myself to stand up and stretch.
So with all this technology and tools to connect us and make us more efficient communicators, here are some questions you can ask yourself:
- When at work, why not ask for a perspective with someone not on your team?
- Is your communications team talking to your sales team?
- Is your creative team talking to your PR team?
Tech give us access to so much of the world and we should leverage that by talking with more people and gaining more perspectives.
By bringing in other perspectives our work will only get better, more inclusive, and more fun.
