Technology Is Irrelevant
18 Mar 2011
I almost fell of my bike today, but I didn’t because technology is irrelevant.
Who are your experts?
10 Mar 2011
On Tuesday the BBC kicked up a fuss by posting a news story that many in the Charity Sector interpreted as an announcement that all website cookies would become illegal on 25th May. That set the blogs all-a-twitter and I’m sure caused some senior level head-scratching.
Yesterday a contradictory story was posted quoting “experts” who put the story straight. Apart from wondering why the BBC didn’t ask these experts in the first place, this got me thinking. In this example, there were quite a few “experts” (this blog included) who realised immediately that the original story had got the wrong end of the stick, but as is often the case, the authority of the BBC (which, let’s face it, is usually a pretty good bet) carried a lot of weight and will have lead to an awful lot of time being wasted on a non-issue at many digital charities.
In our projects I am continually reminded of the value of engaging the right experts as early as possible. That’s why whenever we set up a major programme of work, it’s vital to engage consulting experts, project management experts, design experts and technology experts from day one. Digital stuff is complicated and, as the BBC demonstrated this week, it’s very easy for the well informed non-expert to get things very wrong.
We’ve found in practice that the value of the slight nudge an expert can give at the beginning of a project isn’t truly apparent until much later when it’s realised that the project has avoided the need for a huge (and expensive) course correction. Anyone who’s spent the last 48 hours trying to come up with a workable way to implement “opt in” cookies would certainly have valued an early intervention like this!
So here’s the challenge. You’ve taken a break from something to read this blog. Whatever it is, perhaps it’s something important and complex – who do you know who’s an expert? Perhaps they are a member of your team or someone at an agency you work with: ring them up, or better still – go and see them. Take muffins. Ask them about your project. They’re an expert so if they can’t add anything they’ll know right away. You might just be surprised at how valuable the result turns out to be.
