4 ways to try new techy things and risk failure
By: Ville Yli-Knuutila
Tags: Software, Innovation, Programming, Software Development, New Things

1. The secret sauce: ask questions and you’ll learn without even trying

While preparing a software project briefing a while back, we realized we had been spewing the term MVP (Minimum Viable Project) without always explaining to our customers what it means. In fact, when we asked if they knew the meaning of the abbreviation… no one knew. And no one thought of asking.

So, if someone uses words you don’t know, be the conference room superhero by giving everyone an explanation! If it’s too weird, work your way up by asking outsiders, like us consultants, in private. We’re literally being paid to answer questions. How about the building manager, or cleaning personnel? Let your curiosity defy hierarchies in a polite way.

There are environments where inquisitiveness is discouraged for perceived security reasons, or due to regressive attitudes. In those cases, resort to note-taking and Google.

2. Start out small, in places you have control over

Starting in the 90s, the Linux operating system was a home-backed skill snuck into big enterprises by IT people executing small projects, minor websites, and nameservers. Then, the world got taken over by big companies that early on built an advantage around open source operating systems and databases lacking hefty per-CPU license fees.

Microsoft, once known for hysterical FUD-campaigns against open source, now supports Linux in the cloud and under Windows 10, all while submitting patches. They even bought GitHub. Monkey boy’s gone. Things change: nearly 80% of companies now use open source.

So try out cool new technologies, methods or tools, but start small and master your craft. Working in IT and software, it’s worth having a home lab, and you may not even need racks. Cloud servers are billed by the minute, so there’s no need to leave test environments running when you don’t have time to tinker.

If you find the topic of this blog post interesting and you understand Finnish, have a listen to our new podcast. We cover the same topics there, but you get to hear our voices while we’re being experts on cool, yet reliable software.

3. Ask for forgiveness, not permission

If you stick to trying new things and processes in areas you have control over, you’re pretty safe.

It’s relatively easy to change course, or cease and desist, if one morning you’ve got an email from the security ops team because they see a new service running somewhere, or accounting complains that the TPS report you automated doesn’t precisely match the template.

Sometimes, new things are considered showing initiative — in other situations, it’s automatically defiance. What we, as a modern software consulting company, know for sure is that IT and software is fluid and subject to trends or legitimate new and better methods.

15 years ago enterprise was all about mature, vendor specific, and sometimes aging software ecosystems. These days, almost every industry needs to offer instant gratification to both b2b end users and consumers. The least likely suspects of forward thinking are now writing bleeding edge mobile and web apps, with toolkits that take open source for granted.

If your company doesn’t care, be the person who sets up a home lab and looks for a better job where your ever-developing skills are appreciated. At least, that’s the kind of people we’re looking for when we hire.

4. Be open, invite participation

Real artists ship. Real geeks offer unsolicited conversations on their obsessions and cool new things. It’s just a matter of having the social tact to realize that conversations are full-duplex interactions.

Let others know what you’re curious about. If you’re using some new programming language to solve a problem for yourself at work, ask for feedback and ideas. If you have enough obsessive cycles to spare, do the unexpected: offer at least a little bit of documentation for onboarding, in your company’s typical environments.

Of course, companies should have standard tools to varying degrees and conventions for software supply chains, and for good reason. In our very first blog post about picking programming languages, we highlighted that being a team player is a key skill in modern software production processes. Don’t forget this!

There you go, some quick pointers on encouraging change while learning to wisely pick your battles. In our ongoing blog series, we will continue to highlight issues central to our industry. If you have questions, let us know — our “Ask a Pro” series regularly chimes in with answers to real questions from readers like you!