Legacy technology — the established platforms, databases, and devices used in organizations — is the chief obstacle to overcome as firm’s seek to pursue their digital strategies. How can tech leaders overcome the human instinct to cling to one’s established ways and the devices you are comfortable with?

传统技术(组织中使用的已建立平台，数据库和设备)是公司寻求推行其数字战略时要克服的主要障碍。 技术领导者如何才能克服人类坚持自己的既定方式和设备所适应的本能？

介绍 (Introduction)

We all see them around and have them in our organizations. They are the ones who haul around their five-pound company-issued laptop. They are the ones still using a Blackberry-or worse, a flip phone! They are the ones who insist on doing the paper contract, rather than gathering all the digital signatures. They are the ones who insist on flying everyone into Cleveland for a meeting in the middle of winter, rather than conducting a video conference to accomplish the same task.

我们都看到了他们，并将其加入了我们的组织。 他们是拖着公司发行的五磅重笔记本电脑的人。 他们是仍在使用Blackberry的手机，或更糟糕的是，它是翻盖手机！ 他们是坚持签订纸质合同，而不是收集所有数字签名的人。 他们是坚持在冬季中旬将每个人带到克利夫兰开会的人，而不是举行视频会议来完成相同的任务。

They are largely — but not exclusively — the gray-haired folks. They are the ones who cling to the old ways and the old technology they know, rather than switching to the new ways of doing things. They are the ones that will use their outdated devices, no matter if the support has long run out on them. In fact, they will not surrender them until someone-or more likely a group-comes down from the IT department to pry their old dumb phone, their old hulking PC, their old heavy laptop — as Charlton Heston famously put it about another device — “from my cold dead hands!”

他们主要是( 但不限于)白发族。 他们是固守旧知识和旧技术的人，而不是转向新的做事方式。 他们将使用他们过时的设备，无论支持是否已长期耗尽。 实际上，除非有人(或更可能是一个小组)从IT部门下来撬起他们的老式电话，笨重的PC，笨重的笔记本电脑(如查尔顿·赫斯顿(Charlton Heston)著名地将其放在另一台设备上)，否则他们不会投降。 “ 从我冰冷的死人手中 ！”

And so I recently read with interest an article from Ross Benes, an analyst with eMarketer, entitled “Legacy Tech Delays Digital Transformation.” In the article, Benes looks at a number of recent studies that seem to all confirm the same general notion that those of us dealing with change-particularly change when it comes to all matters technological in organizations today-have to confront all too often. That is the fact that there are very real modern day Luddites-and indeed often entire communities of Luddites out there in even the best of companies, organizations and government agencies. They are the folks who are resistant to change and prefer to continue to do things as they have been done, no matter how much the new technology benefits them and no matter how-and how well-the new ways are spelled-out to them.

因此，我最近感兴趣地阅读了eMarketer分析师Ross Benes的文章，标题为“ 传统技术延迟数字转型” 。 在这篇文章中，Benes看了一些最近的研究，这些研究似乎都证实了一个相同的普遍观念，即我们中那些应对变化的人们，尤其是当涉及当今组织中所有技术问题的变化时，它们必须经常面对。 这是事实， 它是非常真实的现代Luddites，实际上 ，甚至包括最好的公司，组织和政府机构，Luddites的整个社区都在那里。 他们是抵制变革的人，他们喜欢继续做已完成的事情，无论新技术对他们有多大好处，无论如何以及如何向他们阐明新方法。

As can be seen in the results of Benes’ analysis, there are a complex interaction of forces that hold back companies as they seek to pursue tech-based changes. Principal among these are an “over-reliance on legacy tech or lack of the right technology/tools” and “internal politics or cultural resistance.” In short, as Benes put it bluntly:

从贝恩斯(Benes)的分析结果中可以看出，复杂的力量相互作用阻碍了公司在寻求基于技术的变革时的努力。 其中最主要的是“对传统技术的过度依赖或缺乏正确的技术/工具”和“内部政治或文化抵制”。 简而言之，正如Benes坦率地说：

“One thing that makes it tough for companies to overcome legacy systems is that their workers can become used to relying on the technology they’re familiar with, even if it is outdated.”

“使公司难以克服旧系统的一件事是，即使过时了，他们的员工也可以习惯于依靠他们熟悉的技术。”

如何克服对技术变革的抵制 (How to Overcome Resistance to Technology Changes)

So, as a management consultant and professor, one of the most pressing issues as organizations of all sizes striving to transform — and maybe to transform again and again — to compete in the digital age is how to overcome the resistance and get “buy-in” from the “resistance” that almost inevitably is present in companies of all shapes, sizes, and industries when tech-based changes are undertaken. And so how do you overcome such “hardened resistance?” This is much harder in practice than many outside of the IT community can ever imagine. Things that make perfect sense to IT make absolutely no sense in the minds of some-perhaps many-in organizations.

因此，作为一名管理顾问和教授，各种规模的组织努力转型( 也许一次又一次转型)以在数字时代竞争，这是最紧迫的问题之一，它是如何克服阻力并获得“购买力”。在进行基于技术的变革时，几乎所有形式，规模和行业的公司都不可避免地会存在“阻力”。 那么，您如何克服这种“顽固的抵抗”呢？ 在实践中，这比IT社区之外的许多人想象的要难得多。 在某些(也许是许多企业)组织中，对IT完全有意义的事情绝对没有任何意义 。

The fundamental aspect to all of this is that those involved with any attempt at IT-based changed have to quickly realize-and to greatly appreciate-that changes in tech are changes in people’s lives. As such, we have an instinctive, visceral reaction when presented with change-and often, no matter how much sunshine, rainbows and nirvana are attached to a given change in the tech we use and how we use tech to get things done, there’s going to be a very human reaction to all of this. To you, as an IT leader or as an organizational executive, the change that is being made may be a small change. It may be what you see as nothing. However, to some people, and to perhaps more than just some in your company, your agency, or your organization of any type, that change might be just as dramatic as the change in staplers was to Milton in that classic film-now almost two decades old-of how things really work in companies, “ Office Space.”

所有这一切的基本方面是，那些试图进行基于IT的变革的人们必须Swift意识到，并且要极大地体会到，技术变革就是人们生活的改变。 因此，当我们面对变化时，我们会产生一种本能的，内在的React-而且，无论我们使用的技术发生某种变化，以及如何利用技术来完成工作，无论阳光，彩虹和必杀技有多少，对所有这一切都是非常人性化的React。 对您来说，作为IT领导者或组织主管，所做的更改可能只是很小的更改。 这可能是您没有看到的东西。 但是，对于某些人，或者可能不仅仅是您公司，代理商或任何类型的组织中的某些人，这种变化可能与那部经典电影中订书机的变化对米尔顿一样具有戏剧性，现在已经差不多有两个数十年来，公司的工作原理，“ 办公空间” 。

What’s very interesting about all of this is to realize that the stages we go through in terms of making any kind of change in organizations-and tech today is perhaps the biggest cause of such changes-is the parallel between the process we go through in terms of adapting to change in our work lives paralleling that of how we adapt to changes-indeed the worst of changes-in our personal lives. In fact, the change process of how we adapt to changes in technology mirrors that of how we adapt to loss, following what is known as the Kübler-Ross Change Curve, which deals with grief.

所有这一切非常有趣的是，认识到我们在进行组织中的任何类型更改方面所经历的各个阶段(今天的技术也许是此类更改的最大原因)是我们所经历的流程之间的相似之处适应工作中的变化的方式与我们适应变化(实际上是最坏的变化)的方式平行。 实际上，遵循被称为库伯勒-罗斯变化曲线 ( Kübler-RossChange Curve)的方法，我们如何适应技术变化的变化过程与我们如何适应损失的变化过程相似。

And so whether we are talking about switching from an old laptop or an old system to new, updated technology, such change means leaving something behind for something new. It means — literally — the death of an old way of doing things and the birth of a new, uncertain future. For some of us, we can simply switch devices with the ease of using our Visa card where American Express might not be accepted. Even if it represents a major change, we can simply make a technology change like a Civil War general who mounts a new horse after his old horse was shot out from under him. To us, it is simply no big deal. However, to others, changes in what they use on a day-to-day (perhaps even hour-by-hour or minute-to-minute basis) and/or how they interact with the organization and others within it, changes that we may well perceive as trivial, can be perceived in our often idiosyncratic minds as life-altering. Ultimately, everything is about perception and changes in technology, processes, and interactions in our work life are indeed life changes.

因此，无论我们是在谈论从旧笔记本电脑还是旧系统切换到新的，更新的技术，这种变化都意味着要为新产品留一些东西。 从字面上看，这意味着旧的做事方式的消亡和新的，不确定的未来的诞生。 对于我们中的某些人来说，我们可以轻松地使用可能不接受美国运通卡的Visa卡来切换设备。 即使代表重大变化，我们也可以像内战将军一样简单地进行技术更改，在他的老马从他的身下被射出后，他会安装新马。 对我们来说，这没什么大不了的。 但是，对于其他人而言，他们每天使用的内容(可能甚至每小时一小时或每分钟一分钟)和/或他们与组织及组织中其他人员的交互方式发生变化，可能被认为是微不足道的，在我们经常特质的头脑中可以被视为改变生活。 归根结底，一切都与感知有关，工作生活中的技术，过程和交互作用的改变确实是生活的改变。

结论 (Conclusion)

Thus, change is change. Never forget that. And never underestimate the degree to which we all perceive change differently. As such, if you really want to change the way things are done in an organization from a tech perspective-no matter how big or how small that change may seem to you, as a “techie” or as an “expert,” the change to the folks getting the real work done on the front lines may be anything but small to them. And so no matter how much a change may benefit them, no matter how much it might make their work lives “simpler,” and yes, no matter how much we may think that this change, this new device, this new system might be “the greatest thing since sliced bread,” beauty-and functionality, and practicality, and usability-is all in the eyes of the beholder.

因此， 改变就是改变 。 永远不要忘记那个 。 而且，永远不要低估我们所有人对变化的感知程度 。 因此，如果您真的想从技术角度改变组织中的工作方式，那么无论您以“技术人员”还是“专家”的身份看待变更的大小，无论该变更多大或多小对于在第一线完成真正工作的人们来说，这对他们来说可不是一件小事。 因此，无论有多大的变化可能使他们受益，无论有多大的变化可能使他们的工作变得“简单”，是的，无论我们认为有多大的变化，这种新的设备，这种新的系统可能是“自切面包以来最伟大的事情”的美感，功能，实用性和可用性都在情人眼中。

And as such, you simply should never neglect that “last mile” of the implementation process. There is a sales aspect to implementing any tech change. And the bottom-line is simple: If you don’t pay sufficient attention to those on the front-lines-and even those in the middle of the organization-who are needed to make the tech change become a successful digital strategy-you will pay-and pay significantly-down the road. History may not repeat itself exactly, but it does rhyme. And what it is telling you is to indeed “sweat the small stuff” in IT implementations and digital changes — as the effort put into it on the front end will be small compare to the reclamation and “re-education” work you may face trying to “fix” a change effort gone bad.

正因为如此，你根本不应该忽视的实施过程中说，“最后一英里”。 实施任何技术更改都有一个销售方面。 底线很简单：如果您对前线人员(甚至组织中部的人员)没有给予足够的重视，而他们需要使技术变革成为成功的数字战略，那么您将支付并大幅支付费用。 历史可能不会完全重演，但会押韵。 它告诉您的是确实要“吞并” IT实施和数字变更中的“小东西”，因为与您可能要尝试的填海和“再教育”工作相比，前端投入的精力很小“解决”变更工作变得很糟糕。

关于大卫·怀尔德 (About David Wyld)

David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu)is a Professor of Strategic Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, publisher, executive educator, and experienced expert witness. He is the founder and publisher of both The IDEA Publishing [The Best in News, Information and Content Marketing] and Modern Business Press [The Best in Academic Journals].

David C. Wyld ( dwyld@selu.edu )是路易斯安那州哈蒙德市东南路易斯安那大学战略管理教授。 他是管理顾问，研究员/作家，出版商，执行教育者和经验丰富的专家证人。 他是IDEA Publishing ( 最佳新闻，信息和内容营销 )和Modern Business Press ( 最佳学术期刊 )的创始人和出版商。

Social Media Links to David Wyld:

社交媒体与David Wyld的链接：

on Facebook

在脸书上

on LinkedIn

在领英上

on Twitter

在推特上

Originally published at https://vocal.media/01/old-ways-and-old-devices-die-hard

最初发布在 https://vocal.media/01/old-ways-and-old-devices-die-hard