Identify The Two Flavors Of Techie People

I love IT people. I am an IT person myself, and computer techs will always hold a special place in my heart. Despite their skills, let’s be objective and face what your IT people are, and what they aren’t. There are two distinct flavors of IT people. One we’ll call the Dude and one we’ll call the Golden Oldie.

The Dude is a young guy, often in his twenties (though he can be of any age). He loves computers, loves technology, is totally motivated, and very excited. When talking about computers you can see the huge grin on his face and the sparkle in his eyes. He runs around your office like a little bolt of computer lightning. He may be a college grad, but just as often he has no formal education. Educated or not, this guy is smart. He lives, breathes, and eats computers. Most of your employees and/or coworkers would rather not touch their home computers after working on them all day. Not the Dude. After working late at the office on your computers, he buzzes home to work on his. He sucks up tech knowledge like sponge, and literally learns something new every day. The Dude is a joy to work with, but there are problems with our enthused friend.

First off, the Dude is really disorganized. He doesn’t ever write anything down. “I can remember it all,” he says, and often he can. More often he’s missing critical information when he needs it. The Dude also has a strong tendency to rush things. Ever had someone “fix” a problem on your computer only to have it still be broken after the person left? Most likely, you’re were dealing with a Dude. When you ask the Dude if he’s set up Sally’s email account yet, he gives you a spaced-out stare. He’s trying to sort through all the computer excitement and information in his brain to see if he’s done it or not. To-do lists? A calendar? The Dude has never heard of them. But he vaguely remembers there are two icons in Outlook that “do that”.

The biggest danger when taking advice from the Dude is that he loves technology so much, he will recommend you use it just because it’s new and it’s there. “Should we be using wireless?” “Sure,” says the Dude. “Should we start buying more laptops?” “Yeah,” says the Dude. “How about this Linux thing…should we be using that?” “Oh you bet!” says the Dude. If you ask “why?” after any of those answers, the Dude says, “Cuz it’s cool!”

The Dude is the ultimate technology yes man. Like Chewbacca on Star Wars, he’s cute, cuddly, and very dangerous.

The other IT guy is the Golden Oldie, a very different animal from the Dude. While the Dude is young and excited, the Golden Oldie is neither. He’s an old dog. He’s been doing computers for 35 years. Before that, he was a technician, engineer, repairman, or something similar. This stuff’s in his blood. Off the top of his head, he can give you model numbers off a Seagate RLL hard drive manufactured in February, 1989. He can put a server together with his eyes closed, and probably a Chevy truck and an airplane too. Unlike the Dude, the Golden Oldie is a bastion of organization. Everything is written down. Labeled. Categorized. Archived. The Golden Oldie loves flowcharts, big proposals and reports, and Microsoft Excel. When he talks, no one understands what he’s saying (except other Golden Oldies or any Dudes that happen to be in the room). Dudes look up to Golden Oldies like they’re Greek gods. When Intel comes out with a new processor, the Dude gets excited and talks until his mouth falls off. The Golden Oldie just nods sagely, mentions a few floating point statistics, and then turns back to his computer. The Golden Oldie is your rock.

Like the Dude, the Golden Oldie has some problems too. While the Dude is a change maniac, the Golden Oldie hates change. If it works exactly the way the Golden Oldie likes it (and trust me, it does), then he doesn’t want to change it. Ever. If you try to change it, he fights you. He might even call you stupid behind your back. His vast mind simply doesn’t have time for change. He just wants to get back to work. When the Dude gets a new computer, he’s pumped. When a Golden Oldie gets a new computer, he’s ticked off. Why? He has to re-do all of his thousands of customized settings. Millions of Golden Oldies around the country were furious when Microsoft Windows came onto the computer scene. “The mouse is stupid! I can type faster than I can click! Look at these stupid little pictures on the screen! What a waste of time! Where’s my DOS prompt?” Boy, did they hate it. They fought it for years. Whereas all the Dudes said “Whoa! Windows rocks! Let’s hack it!”

The Golden Oldie is also a little arrogant. He’s smarter than everyone else, and he knows it. And, unfortunately, it often shows. Golden Oldies have a natural tendency to talk down to laymen, and they can really ruffle feathers. The Dude is a really nice guy who won’t fix your computer problem without coming back three times. The Golden Oldie will fix your problem one time, quickly and expertly, then lecture you about how stupid you are and how you should “try not do that again”.

So now you know the pros and cons of the two flavors of techie ice cream. How to we utilize these two personalities for maximum return on technology investment and productivity?

The first technique is to use each IT person to their best ability. Dudes should be your front-line support people. These should be the ones out helping people one-on-one with their computers. They’re friendly, happy, and their enthusiasm is often infectious. Golden Oldies should be working back in the office, behind the scenes. Have your organized Golden Oldies manage the chaotic Dudes. Golden Oldies should be responsible for results, documentation, and large projects (servers, custom programming, and the like). Dudes should be your problem-fixers and maintainers. With Golden Oldies in charge and Dudes as the face of the IT department, you’ve got a winning combination.

The second technique is to give your IT people maximum freedom, but do not let them lead the general direction of things. As we’ve just discussed, when it comes to change, neither the Dude or the Golden Oldie can be relied on for unbiased advice. You determine your objectives, then recruit your IT people to help you get there faster. Many corporate managers let their IT personnel determine their objectives for them. Rarely does it work out for the best. It is your job to decide where the ship is going and how many stops you’ll make along the way. It’s your techies’ job to make sure the ship ends up where you want it do.

Caleb Jones www.calebjones.com >Click to Email Caleb< 888.646.TECH Please download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader if you don't have it installed on your computer. The Adobe Acrobat Reader will allow you to view, and print all of our documents, across all major computing platforms.