People

Long ago I adopted the phrase “People, Process, Technology” to help me stay focused on the right things, in the right order as I believe the order of these three words is extremely important. At the end of the day, technology solutions that we craft together are designed to serve PEOPLE. Even more important, these solutions are USED by People. If we fail to understand those people and their skillsets, it becomes very difficult to design a solution that they would be able to call valuable – and we often lead with technology. The danger in this is that we can end up serving the technology, rather than technology serving us, and our mission.

Process

The next layer is PROCESS, and it’s 100% dependent upon our understanding of the people (above.) People design process, people use process, and ultimately, people are served by process. Process is something that we may work together to modify to be more efficient, or more valuable. I’m very pleased when we are able to solve challenges that we thought were technical, simply with tweaks to process. A funny thing about process is that if you fail to acknowledge it, if you fail to design it to serve you, you will often end up serving process – the reverse of the desired effect.

Technology

Once we understand the People and we’ve defined (or designed) Process then we now have a much more clear vision of what is needed, and how TECHNOLOGY can serve that need or fill that gap. I believe this is where technology belongs, as the LAST step in the process. Too often, technology is the first step, and the unintended consequence of starting with technology first, is that we end up serving the technology – when the desire was that the technology would serve us (our needs.)

What I’ve done through this is create a business process that does not scale well – and that’s OK. To live by People, Process, Technology, it’s impossible to design solutions without having a piece of your DNA. To get this, it means that I have to have met you, learned what makes you, your teams, and your organization “tick.” Truly, it’s one of my most favorite parts of working with a new organization.

I consider these involvements to be long term – I want to get to know you, understand your vision and long term goals, and help to put wheels on them. And by having your DNA as part of me, I can keep you moving down the path to your vision, and help you avoid the pitfalls of tactical purchasing that does not serve long term vision.

My Hawaii friends would say that I am part of their “Ohana” (Family.) We can craft the best solutions together when I have lived with, and served alongside family.

And if this flavor of engagement sounds enticing to you, then I can’t wait to expand my Ohana with you!

~Bryan