An Upgrade Isn’t an Upgrade if It Doesn’t Improve Your Situation
If you won’t listen to your employees, why trust outside counsel?
Lately, it seems most of the devices I use are getting “automatic software upgrades.” (Well, some of them I have to approve or click something to request the upgrade, but I almost always DO upgrade!). But I find more and more of these “upgrades” are actually “downgrades” — in many aspects.
I’ve experienced that in other areas of my life, too. One that comes to mind immediately is an “upgrade” I received on a long flight. This particular airline, in this particular country, was suspect from the start. The planes looked as if they were built 100 years ago. (I know I’m exaggerating, but they looked old and tired.)
As I boarded, I saw that the interior of the plane was a bit worn. (And now I’m understating! The inside was actually pretty shabby). But when I handed my ticket to the agent at the door, she smiled broadly and said, “Oh, you are upgraded!”
Wow. I’m always interested in flying business class or first class. (What exactly is the difference on most planes? Aren’t first class seats the same as business class seats? But, I digress…) So I exchanged my boarding pass for the new boarding pass and promptly sat down in seat 3B. Ah, a wide, comfortable seat on the aisle where I could relax and, possibly, catch some sleep. (It was an early, early morning flight.)
But before I could get comfortable, the flight attendant asked me to get up and let someone slip by who was assigned to seat 3A. It was an elderly woman who was attempting to carry three small cases. Being the gentleman that I am (can I still say that?), I offered to help her put them in the overhead bin.
She handed me two of them, but kept the small third carry-on, smiling and saying, “Oh, I have to keep poor Mitzi on my lap!”
Great. Turns out “poor Mitzi” was a yip-yap dog (as I call most very small dogs), and Mitzi did NOT like being a) in a crate; and b) on an airplane. But how bad could this be? I’ll just put in my headphones and…
WHOA! Quite possibly the tallest person I’ve ever seen was walking onto the plane. Wow! This guy HAD to be a basketball star; he must have been nearly 7 feet tall! And, of course, he sat right behind me, his knees firmly in my back. Ugh. It couldn’t be any worse.
BUT WAIT! You guessed it. Seats 3C and 3D were occupied immediately by a young woman with an infant (who was screaming at the top of her lungs) and a 2-year-old (who was matching the baby, scream for scream). No sleep for me! I almost asked the flight attendant for a downgrade, rather than an upgrade!
Well, as well know, SH**, I mean, THINGS, happen. So what about your upgrades? How are you handling them?
My phone ‘upgrade’
I upgraded to a new phone a few months ago — again, not necessarily a good thing. I couldn’t figure out how to transfer my old phone over (and frankly, if I say so myself, I’m pretty tech-savvy), and I couldn’t get the phone to connect with the network. I went two days without a cell phone. (How in the WORLD did we ever manage every single minute of our lives without our mobile phones?)
When I finally gave up and made an appointment at the phone store, I brought the “dead” phone in and complained. The clerk checked it out for nearly 20 minutes, sweating over it, and announced, “Well, I think it needs a software upgrade!”
Wait a second. I just BOUGHT that phone, and it already needed a software upgrade? After another 20 or so minutes of downloading the “needed software upgrade,” guess what? IT STILL DIDN’T WORK!
The service person called the boss over, the boss picked up the phone, pushed the buttons, then took out a toothpick-looking thing, pushed it into the side of the phone and said, “Ah-HAH! Here’s your problem, they mailed you a phone with the incorrect SIM card in it!”
Now, again, I’m not a rocket scientist or a phone designer, but what the heck? I buy a phone that costs over $1,000 and they send it with the wrong hardware in it? Seriously? Well, needless to say, the service person was able to immediately fix it, make it work, AND, in a generous fashion offered me my choice of a cheap case or a complimentary pair of cheap earbuds. YAY!
But, hey, my phone worked so I was now eligible to pay them a fortune each month to use it. Again, thanks so much, for the “upgrade”!
The infamous software ‘upgrades’
So what about those “upgrades” for software? Have you ever received one (automatically or by choice) for an operating system that just totally crashed your computer? Well, I have, and it’s no fun. I’ve also received a few of what I refer to as “sleeper upgrades”: You choose to upgrade, you get used to the program/app/whatever for a few months, and then all of a sudden it’s “a small charge of $3/month to continue to use this upgrade.” But it’s too late to cancel/downgrade! Man, I hate that! (I don’t think it happens anymore; does it?)
Or even better, my wife HATES upgrades. She gets used to something working like it’s “supposed to work” — and BOOM — it (the software) gets upgraded. I get a nasty phone call that goes like this:
“Why do they HAVE to upgrade and change? I don’t like change! I like it the way it was! Can you change it BACK?”
Well, you know how it works. Upgrades are permanent. However, the point here is “upgrades aren’t always upgrades.” Many of us (particularly us geezers) don’t LIKE change, especially a lot of change. I remember going from “Windows to Mac.” I let the Mac sit in the box for nearly 3 months, afraid to make the change. Now I can’t imagine going without my precious Apple gear (yep, I’m one of those), and I’m VERY, very used to the interface on my Mac.
Are your ‘upgrades’ better?
I had to give you that background information to bring up the point of this tome, which is “an upgrade isn’t always an upgrade.” I’ve also had situations in my work with startups, and in my business incubator, where an upgrade was a downgrade.
I’ve had startup company leaders in my office who “want to upgrade the leadership team by bringing in Consultant XYZ” to help them “find their mission.” (I kid you not.) YIKES! First, you’re already this deep into your startup company and you don’t know what your mission should be?
Second, I’ve seen far too many of these “consultants” come in and just completely rip a company in half. (I once heard that the definition of a consultant is anyone with a nice computer bag who is more than 50 miles from their home and is unemployed. DON’T yell at me for this. First off, I repeated what I’ve heard. And second, I’m a consultant! And I do have a nice computer bag!)
These consultants tell management something like, “Oh, you’re doing process A? You need to switch to process B!” All it does is slow things down and create havoc inside the company.
I’ve seen plenty of employees bail because they lost faith in management who wouldn’t listen to THEM, but who would bring in an outside person for advice from someone who doesn’t understand their business model.
Upgraded? I don’t think so. I could regale you with more of these stories (ah, the time we “upgraded” our HVAC system and had no heat for 2 weeks — that was a brilliant move on my part), but let me sum it up. Before you “upgrade” your business model, your business mission, or your leadership team, pause, then ask for advice from someone who’s “been there, done that.”
Carefully check out consultants you might hire. Ask them for references who can speak to their work. Get references that talk about results, not about process! (Or even better, ask about processes that lead to results).
Would it actually be an upgrade to bring this person into your business? Or are you downgrading employee trust by not seeking the advice of your own team first?
In conclusion
Take care as you consider “upgrading” your company. Whether you’re adding new hardware or software or personnel — or seeking advice from your employees, your fellow leaders, or outside experts — be as sure as you can be that you are truly “installing” an upgrade, not just a change you think is one.
I realize you don’t always know what you’re getting until you use it, but do your homework, seek input from your team, and then make a decision. If the upgrade isn’t an upgrade despite all that, then own the mistake and try to undo it, if possible.
I do understand some upgrades or updates are necessary (to fix “bugs,” etc.); and some are helpful. (I can’t recall any; I’m just trying to be nice here). But upgrades disrupt our continuity, they force us to change, they make us move forward whether we want to or not. That can be good.
But I’ve unchecked the “automatic upgrade” button, and I’ll avoid indiscriminate changes for a while. I know I can’t escape the inevitable, and someday I’ll be forced to improve my software situation. Hey, maybe for once, it WILL be an “upgrade” and move up to something better. A person can hope, right?
I hope the best for you and your company, too.
Mark S Long has long experienced the intricacies of business incubation, acceleration, coworking spaces, makerspaces and other entrepreneurial assistance venues. UF Innovate supports an innovation ecosystem that moves research discoveries from the lab to the market, making the world a better place.
Originally published at the IncubatorBlogger on March 16, 2021.
