The Gartner Hype Cycle reflects the trend of technology adoption in society. New technologies lead to inflated expectations, followed by disillusionment, eventually leading to productivity. Think of the dot-com bubble in the early aughts or virtual reality and crypto more recently. Many are debating where artificial intelligence falls on this chart today.
This 22-second video roughly sums up where I think AI falls 😂.
This macro trend is true in the micro
Gartner observed macro trends in technology, but this pattern happens in organizations every day.
- Companies find shiny new software
- People believe this tool will change everything
- It doesn't
What people do next is so important.
Many blame the software and jump ship.
In doing so, they enter the software doom spiral and never reach productivity.
Organizations change tools every 12 months only to find their team burned out. This is easy to do because there are countless alternatives! Every tool you choose has dozens if not hundreds, of competitors who are eager for you to switch to them.
You probably know someone who has been in this doom spiral and never wants to change software tools again. I don't blame them.
When you introduce new software, you create a technology trigger that generates expectations.
Manage them carefully.
Don't believe the marketing. Use the free trial. Get specific about the problems this software intends to solve and how it will serve your process.
Be prepared to guide your team through change and some inevitable disillusionment. If you set good expectations, you can introduce new software into your process and reach productivity.
If you are exploring new software for your company and want help thinking through your tech stack, I'm launching my next cohort in early 2025. It's a five-week program to teach nonprofit leaders how to build a tech-savvy nonprofit. If you're interested, sign up for the waitlist or reply to this email, and I'll add you.
Have a great week!
Ted
