I like to call myself a tech optimist.
Back before the Apple stores were grand meeting places with trees growing out of them, I worked in a tiny Apple Store. It was functional chaos from the moment we opened the doors.
I loved teaching seniors how to pinch and zoom on their first iPads.
I loved helping fathers locate their daughters’ lost iPod.
I even loved the horde of teenagers that would come in and take Photo Booth photos on the iMacs.
The pairing of people and technology is a wonderful combination, and I’ve lived my life with the mindset that tech thrives on connections from people, and vice versa. What truly excites me are all the possibilities that technology offers and I believe that having this optimistic viewpoint is the best mindset, especially at work.
Here are three ways you can channel a tech optimist mindset and make your work better!
Be more curious
Being curious used to take a lot of time.
Now with Google at our fingertips and a plethora of tutorials and software for designers and marketers, tech allows us to fuel creativity and curiosity like never before.
Next time try looking at a task, a brief, or a new project with a sense of wonder, and your ideas will come easier. Recently, I’ve been thinking about how to connect to a B2B audience with platforms like TikTok and Clubhouse.
Some questions I’ve been asking myself:
What inspires the tech world?
How can we innovate using new channels?
Can we use existing channels in new and different ways?
Being more curious is a great way to spark ideas for your next project.
Throw out your existing playbook
The global pandemic forced us as creatives and marketers to rethink the future of events, employee communications, meetings… the list goes on. It allowed us to move away from the ‘traditional’ – and that is exciting.
As the world is transitioning into a hybrid model, we have an opportunity to keep thinking in news ways. We have an opportunity to make this world change for the better, so why not try?
Something important to remind yourself: Just because it worked before, doesn’t mean you can’t reimagine it. Before you go back into your routine tactics, ask yourself why?
Is there is a way to make it better? More enjoyable? More sustainable?
There is an opportunity to improve every single thing we do.
Connect the dots
Technology helps us see a bigger picture, stay connected with more people, and have greater access to the world around us. With tools like Slack, I can easily connect and check in with my coworkers. Through Google Home I can remind myself to stand up and stretch.
So with all this technology and tools to connect us and make us more efficient communicators, here are some questions you can ask yourself:
When at work, why not ask for a perspective with someone not on your team?
Is your communications team talking to your sales team?
Is your creative team talking to your PR team?
Tech give us access to so much of the world and we should leverage that by talking with more people and gaining more perspectives.
By bringing in other perspectives our work will only get better, more inclusive, and more fun.
Conclusion
Since joining Hotwire as Art Director & Designer on our Creative Strategy team, I have realized I found my people. We are all tech optimists igniting possibilities with our clients every day, through storytelling, creating connections, uncovering new solutions… the list goes on! I’m so happy to be working with others who are looking at the bright side of tech and I can’t wait to see what solutions we come up with as a creative team, as an agency, and for our clients and their companies.
Want to talk more about being a tech optimist? Or maybe you’ve got general questions about how I use this mindset in my everyday life. Feel free to reach out here.
Shine bright!