Having the Right Tool for the Job

• Duct Tape
• WD-40
• Elbow Grease
  
  In the olden days those were the only tools you ever needed – or so my father tells me. Even Ken Olsen, the founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation (which has since been acquired by Compaq, which has since been acquired by HP) is rumored to have said, “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.” My how the times have changed.
  
  I need not pontificate about the ubiquity of personal computers and how they have revolutionized the WORLD, but I will address what is a common thought among marketers.
  
  Modern technology is a great tool when it works and the bane of my existence when it does not.
  
  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about competition in a capitalistic society, but when a certain (insert your favorite technology application here) does not behave correctly it makes me pull my hair out. What’s worse is when my boss comments “this is why I have no hair left” and I feel a strange duty to offer a tug of my locks as a substitute.
  
  Was my father right? Come to think of it I haven’t tried duct tape or WD-40…yet.
  
  The truth is, as marketers we need to be aware that although 95% of the business world may use a particular business software application, that 5% has the potential to turn your world on its head. So to all you decision-makers within marketing departments across the globe, do me a favor, spend a few hundred bucks on a couple of the dinosauric (yes, I did in fact just make that word up) applications that those 5% of the world still run. By doing so the bugs are caught early and in-house. If you don’t do it for the sake of your employees’ stress level…do it for their hairlines.

posted by Brian B. @ 5:23 PM
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