Jan 05, 2010
Choosing Tools by Choosing People
When I started my career as a teacher I loved and treasured collaborating with other teachers. As I got to know the different teachers I worked with better, I developed professional connections to some through shared pedagogy and philosophy. Its likely no surprise that these folks offered resources and knowledge that I clung to with a new teacher’s tight grasp for anything that helped me keep my head above water. The resources added value and productivity to my “business” of teaching; however it was the professional connection I felt for these individuals that offered the trust and confidence I needed to invest myself in the resources they offered.
From teaching to design and development, I have found a personal truth. I believe in the ability of individuals and small groups of people with great minds to produce big work. So it comes as no surprise to me, that I often choose tools to run MOD-Lab and to deliver our services that are created by small teams that I have connected to through a shared approach or philosophy.
A recent technology that we selected to help with Giving Impact, is Cheddargetter. Though not a fan of the name, my interactions with Marc Guyer, the man behind the tool, helped me to overlook that and to focus on his approach to providing a service for web application subscription management. Marc brainstormed with me a few ways in which we could use his API to achieve the billing model we were interested in. His openness and flexibility in discussion was reflected in his product. I was able to make a connection with Marc through his work and support that helped me decide to employ his tool and so far this has proven to be a good choice for us.
As an appreciation of design is clearly of import to MOD-Lab, we have found that to be a shared value with many of the teams that produce technology we have been successful with. We have used ExpressionEngine and the related CodeIgniter frameworks to deliver numerous well received websites. Similarly, we have used Campaign Monitor for years for our email marketing. The teams at Ellis Labs and Freshview respectively build tools that have designers in mind without any sacrifice for technology capability. For similar reasons we use a variety of 37signals’ products. They are an example of another small team that is vocally passionate about design. They have helped to make “simple” a powerful product feature and expressed the truth that achieving “simple” requires thoughtful effort. The shared value of this design and technology balance offers a foundation of trust that helps us feel more confident about investing in these company’s products to help us do good work.
Of course there are big teams making big work that make many people happy. Some of these big companies make products that make MOD-Lab and I happy. Interestingly, many of these companies have found ways to make individual connections regardless of their size including companies like Apple and Nintendo for example. Others have not and I believe have suffered in the marketplace as a result.
It may be a bias of mine to be partial to tools created by smaller teams that I can research and develop trust and confidence with, but my truth is that I don’t feel comfortable without making some form of human connection to the people behind the product. I choose tools by choosing people.
MOD-Lab
Comments
There are no comments for this entry yet.
Add Comment