Even within the technology and data space, we rarely ‘buy’ into an idea, a product, a system solely based on its technical capabilities. We buy into things for the status we gain. For the feelings they generate. For the stories they enable us to tell. The technical capabilities are, at best, a secondary consideration.

And yet for most creators, the technical capabilities are what they are most proud of. This often contributes to the perception of ‘when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.’ This is why tools like the empathy map canvas can be extremely useful for creators to connect with users. Empathy demands we get out of our heads and into another.

Oddly, when we seek to make digital shifts or digital transformation, the less we talk about about digital the better. When we seek to ‘go digital’, people rarely care about technical specifications, they care about how it will affect their job, their status in the group, the story told about them, and the story they tell themselves. And in organisations, it often also includes the story they need to tell their manager. When we connect with others with where they are at, ‘going digital’ becomes slightly easier.

The choice is up to us.

Photo by Dominik Lange