About Me — Aldric in Technology Hits.
By: Aldric Chen
Tags: Life Lessons, Digital, Self Improvement, Productivity, Technology

About Me — Aldric in Technology Hits.

Technology is intricately woven into our daily life. Look around us and we see all things digital. As I sit and look around my working desk this morning, I realized that being a digital native is as important as learning how to earn. And that wasn’t my takeaway 10 years ago. I have overcome it since then. This is my story.

Photo by CX Insight on Unsplash

I entered into the Workforce as a Management Consultant 10-years ago. Okay, that is a stretch. I wanted to. My application went through, and I was due to start. Then things happen.

The trouble with professional services firms is they are project-driven. I entered at a point where the project requiring headcount evaporated into thin air.

I was given 2 choices when Human Resources contacted me. We could part ways, or I could give them the green light to assign me to other projects. I chose the latter.

My nightmare began. I thought I would be assigned to other management consulting projects. Instead, I was thrust into a systems integration project upon onboarding.

My first day at work was a string of shocks. I was at the Office of Human Resources to collect my lanyard and employee identification card. That was the first table upon entry. Then, I moved to the next table to collect my laptop. Then, I moved to the next table to be briefed on the client location. The exit was after that last table.

It didn’t occur to me that this was an assembly line. Looking back, I thought I stood on a conveyer belt.

I reached the client site. My gut tells me I am in for a tough time. This is a World of Interfaces, Audit Logs, Product Build, and User Acceptance Testing. There is nothing about Venn diagrams, simple 2-axis chart scoping the next big thing, and C-Suite meetings.

In short, I was out of place. I didn’t know enough to contribute to meetings, and lunchtime topics were boring to me. I mean, why would anyone talk about error messages triggered from an unidentified interface source for an hour?

I get it. A meal among dentists makes Gingivitis a lively topic. I am not one. If anyone were to tell me that they are faking till they make it — I understand perfectly. My only question is whether you are happy doing that.

I digressed.

And because I decided to stay in a place where I do not belong, I became more extreme towards technology adoption. I was thoroughly against it, professionally and personally.

I know exactly how it feels when someone shares what a Quick Read (QR) scan looks like, the ease of use it brings. I would be sold on the idea while bashing the person and the technology at the same time.

That was me, 10 years ago. I paid the price of going against an inevitable trend.

Today, it becomes inevitable to embrace user-driven technology.

Smartphones connect us with the World. They allow social media applications to be nested within, enabling us to stay connected with the World at a fraction of the cost.

We can compare making an international call using our phoneline against a What’s App video call. The business case is obvious.

Apart from cost-efficiency, Technology itself has deflationary impacts on our economy. For the first time through consumer-driven decision-making, we can avoid roads with expensive toll-fees set-up by Telecommunication companies.

There is a lot of good in technology advancement. Do you remember your high school Economics? One of the key assumptions for any country’s production frontier (it is a graph that measures the number of goods and services we produce per unit time) to hold its current equilibrium is that technology adoption holds constant.

That assumption no longer holds. We are destined to be the most productive human species in our evolution cycle, and we are pushing the envelope.

9–6 is a thing of the past. 24–7–365 is the norm today.

9 hours of productivity cannot beat 24 hours of productivity. This is a simple calculus. We cannot be competitive without the aid of technology.

At the same time, it worries me. There will be many people left behind due to the inertia of technology adoption. My personal history has proven me right.

This is why I want to contribute to Technology Hits. I want to share with everyone that technology adoption can be seamless and fun. The issue is the sense of discomfort we have when we use the application for the first time.

Let me make one point to that. We didn’t know how to drive. We learned it.

The World ahead of us will be powered by the internet. We are rapidly transiting away from the Industrial Age powered by Newtonian Laws of Force and Motion into an era where Michael Faraday and James C Maxwell takes the stage.

The physical force of Electromagnetism is ready to usurp the throne of Human Civilisation progress.

I will do my part to share my knowledge as a Technology-user through Technology Hits. Knowing how to trumps doing well in the World of Linkedin, YouTube, Open-Source applications, and 5G networks.

This is where I share my thoughts and tricks.

Thank you for reading and do follow me for my contents.

Aldric Version 2.0.

Aldric