Technology Sin — Or the ignorance of #Slack

technology sin

[tek-nol-uh-jee] [sin]

noun.

1. Transgression of the the law of technology — to keep up to date on current technology trends and applications

2. Failure to use proper applications and provide support for company employees

Slack has nearly dominated headlines since earlier this year. Its explosive growth has edged its place as the fastest company in modern history to hit a $1B and $2B evaluation. Marketers, entrepreneurs, Angels, and VCs alike are looking at what to glean from this powerhouse of growth. While there are many lessons to be learned, there’s yet another I found myself in recently that came totally unexpected.

Sometime in October, I decided it may be time to turn in my consulting hat to join a local company as Senior Designer. As I have been self-employed for over three and a half years, the idea of “going to work for someone” was a tough one to swallow at first, but the opportunity for growth at this new company seemed to be huge. They were coming off a huge acquisition (half a billion) and working on their own projects after taking a break to enjoy their recent success.

Impressed by the fancy office and “cool projects” they were working on (still had no clue what they were at the time of the interview), it took no hesitation to accept their offer letter. After about a week of background checking, all systems were a “go” and I started working with the company.

Looking back now, it’s easy to spot all of the red flags I overlooked when interviewing, as well as my lack of discernment for them. But isn’t that why hindsight is what it is? Regardless, I was eager, excited, and a bit uneasy on the first day. For some reason, my gut was punching me saying, “are you sure this is what you want?” I couldn’t be sure if that was just because I had so much autonomy over the years running my own consultancy, or if it was the company itself. I would soon find out.

When you hear key identifiers like startup, acquisition, new projects, ground level, and instrumental as ways to describe your company and position, it comes with a certain set of expectations. Having just come off another startup myself and being involved with the PDX startup scene, as well as the online startup ecosystem, it’s impossible to overlook Slack. Their triumphs are quintessential in describing the ideal storyline for about any startup at this point — it’s that dream beyond the stars that you aim for, hoping to hit a sliver of its success.

Back to my first day on the job, I found myself with more probing questions about how they ran operationally that should have come up in the interview process. To be fair, there was just one interview and they seemed to be chomping at the bit to hire me, so many of my questions were left to post-hire.

As we walked down the well-designed hallway of the warehouse-turned-office-space, it dawned on me to ask how the office communicates. With about 25 employees and spread out over several office areas, I knew this was a critical component. I had used many services, mainly Skype, before switching to the now standard Slack in my own business.

So it came to my surprise when the operations gal said they use Microsoft Lync. Not even Skype for Business, which was announced as its successor in November of last year, but Lync. Surely though, this just may be an old tool they’re about to switch over.

Being an avid evangelist of Slack, I asked whether or not the Operations gal had heard of Slack. Nope.

Let me get this straight. In a company that had been so successful and was going into startup mode, as well as acquiring new companies, the operations person didn’t know what Slack was. At face value, this isn’t a huge deal: there are plenty of networking programs out there for teams, but for me, this was a giant red flag. How could a company with all the appropriate buzzwords to trigger deep interest from me be working off a now defunct version of an already lackluster product that calls its claim to fame from the early 2000's?

The remainder of my time there was a struggle and painfully dull. Onboarding was vague and their operational protocols were incredibly rigid for such a small company. Despite promises of “no lack of equipment”, I was surprisingly under-equipped. Especially with filming being a major part of my role, their cameras were dinky $200 consumer camcorders. It’s not uncommon in past roles for companies to have 5–10K in equipment to use.

Ultimately, the role was a total bust. After 2 days, we parted ways. In reflecting on the whole process, which is a mist now, it dawned on me just how much stock I put in the communication facets of a company. Something as simple as the application they use for speaking to one another across the office dramatically altered my viewpoint about just what kind of company I was working for exactly.

This all goes to show just how profound an impact Slack has had on not just the work culture, but also how telling it is knowing what kind of software a company does (or does not) use. Relying on the founder’s laurels as a sole barometer for job and company viability is a trap as well (that I walked straight into).

So when you’re in the exploratory stage or interview phase for a new job, don’t overlook the software they use. Grill them on it, hard. Ask tough questions about why they are still using a two-year-old version of a current piece of software. If they are not current with software that IS working and makes the worker/work environment more efficient, chances are they are neglecting a very important part of their business. In the computer age, I would call this a technology sin.