Banana

Ever heard anyone use this metaphor in the business world? Not really. But I think that the shelf-life of a banana is the same to that of technology available today. And that is where business can use this parlance of a banana.

Think of it like this - As executives we spend long hours discussing new business processes and then use technology as a lever to implement and streamline these processes. By the time we implement these technology-enabled processes, well, the core-technology has evolved and we are back to the drawing boards either trying to retrofit the newer technology to existing process. Most of the time, across the world, the major push-back is due to the fact that there are process-changes in companies and quite a few of these changes are driven by the fact that there is new technology available to better perform the work.

Why do companies keep chasing the infinite - implement technology only to yank it out later because it has become out-dated and has a shelf-life of a banana? Here today, gone tomorrow - with that as an open secret, we as executives need to address current problems in efficiencies because if we do not do it, our competitor will. We need to adopt the latest greatest technology and then be prepared to accept and implement the changes that come with any technology.

So, the next time around, you are evaluating a new technology are you going to ask yourself and the technical provider - how new is this technology or how old is this technology? Think about it !