“But what if we must perform surgery in the dark on a badly injured Macbook Air?” I thought. “Does not a Help Desk surgeon require optimal lighting? Would we all fall fast asleep while students wait in line to change a password or connect to wireless?”
The more I analyzed the idea my technology team members had proposed, the more time I spent thinking about why changes to the lighting scheme in our Help Desk would never work. You see, it was the end of August, with many projects tucked neatly under our belts, as we quickly tidied the summer sprawl before teachers and students descended on campus for a new year. A summer or two ago, we had reoriented our Help Desk area by creating three small and inviting workstations. It went over really well in our group and with our daily visitors. But this was different. Our lighting would no longer match the adjoining classrooms and the hallway. Besides, soft lighting was a thing of the past, relegated to libraries with oaken walls and basements flanked in knotty pine.
On any given day at our school, like many schools, technology team members oscillate between polar opposites: on one end, brainstorming truly creative ideas that offer elegant solutions for teachers and students, and on the other, saying “no” in the nicest of ways to something that is too expensive, too risky, or downright impossible. Let’s stay positive and call it the “spectrum of yes” that at the far end includes a flat out “no.” In IT, we find ourselves being cost-conscious futurists, security-obsessed dreamers. The contradictions and tensions abound, but it is all part of the job, necessary to imagine the exciting possibilities amid the proverbial cliffs. Alas, sometimes it just feels easier to say “no.”
One thing I love about our technology team at school is that when we encounter a challenging problem or a crazy idea, we never hesitate to bring it to the group. On our best days, one of us speaks in turn and the others listen. We reserve time as a team or small group to reflect on a solution or an implementation strategy, or we simply form an impromptu problem-solving session. And this exercise should never revolve around where the manager or any specific team member might be on the “spectrum of yes.” Instead, where does the group fall?
Before this all just starts to sound too expressive for your average technology professional, let me clarify that the most knowledgeable person on the topic du jour should rightly enjoy the most influence, but that does not preclude others from helping the team flex its decision-making muscles by contributing his reasoned “no way” or her logical “maybe if.” Through this process, we recognize that our best designs are products of the critical thinking, predictive analysis, and data-informed discussions that are hallmarks of our team dynamic. When you blend technology skills with collaborative problem solving, you can put the easy “no” on pause, instead exploring the full realm of possible paths to proverbial IT glory. This kind of mindset is predisposed to support transformative ideas that fit the budget without compromising, for example, security or the user experience.
To my surprise, when everyone got back to school, a tide of compliments on the new lighting scheme rolled in. The refreshed lighting signaled a calmness that contrasted the anxiety of an urgent computer problem. How nice it was to free oneself momentarily from the fluorescence of everywhere else. I will admit that it has grown on me; I like the new lighting. I was so close to “no” when I asked myself the question about the lights, but I listened to those around me, thankfully. The group got to “yes,” and we are all the better for it.