Sometimes diffusion needs a little push. My mom will be 85 this year, which means she was born before any computers were invented. ENIAC (/ ˈ ɛ n i æ k /; Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer made in 1945. My mom was an early adopter of word processing and personal computers because she was my Dad’s office manager, administrative assistant and bookkeeper. I remember her perspective on the diffusion of WYSIWYG technology. I told her WYSIWYG would save her tons of time, and she responded that she would never get any housework done if she couldn’t run upstairs while her documents formatted themselves.
My mom was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago. It’s not terrible, she remembers us but short-term memory is kaput. Happily, she can still live on her own with the help of some pretty slick technology that I have diffused into her life.
Technology Diffusion Supports Senior Independence
My mom now has Google Nest Cams in the house so that we can make sure she is getting around ok. They are installed so we can see the bottom of her staircases, which are numerous. She is in great physical health but we still worry about her falling down the stairs. She carries an iPhone most of the time, and we have her location telegraphed to multiple family members so that we can have eyes on her from multiple locations. After she left the house a couple times without her phone, I installed an AirTag on her keyring that tracks her location. She NEVER leaves home without her keys as she has become obsessed with locking her doors. Between the two devices we have a pretty good idea of her location.
Beyond Location Tracking: Life-Saving Innovations
My sisters and I have a group chat where we “gather the data” on my mom’s day-to-day activities. My two sisters live down the street from my mom so they have more data. They text me to let me know that something has gone amiss and it is my job to find a piece of technology to improve the situation. When my mom started forgetting her pills, that was a big problem that was going to land her in assisted living until I found an automatic medicine dispenser.
The automatic medicine dispenser allows me to load ten different medications and set times for the machine to dispense them. It makes a distinctive sound when it is time for my mom to dispense the medicine and like Pavlov’s dog — when she hears it, she gets right up and takes her pills. If she doesn’t take the medication, it sends me and my sisters a push notification. When we get the notification, we call her and rectify the issue. When we noticed that she was consistently missing her morning dose, I just moved the time of the dose to later in the morning. Problem solved.
Empowering Safe Mobility: The Role of Connected Car Systems
Another important technology is her connected car system. The system’s modem fits neatly into the OBD port in her 10 year old GMC Terrain connecting her to the system’s app, which sends us notifications when she decides to take her car for a ride. This installation was precipitated by an impromptu trip my mom made, several years ago, to Dayton, Ohio. We have no idea what happened but my sister Margie got a call from a very kind lady truck driver who had noticed my mom wandering around a truck stop off the freeway. My mom had no idea how or why she got there. My sister and brother-in-law drove four hours one way to pick her up and bring her home.
You’re probably thinking, “Are you crazy, letting your 84 year old mother drive after an incident like that,” but she is actually an excellent driver. She obeys all traffic rules, drives very conservatively and loves her freedom. These days her only destination is the local grocery store which is caddy-corner from her apartment building. She could walk faster but she has always loved to drive and so she ventures out with her trusty Terrain, across the street to the store for Keebler cookies.
When she takes a wrong turn out of the grocery store parking lot, her connected car system sets off a programmed boundary alert that sends me a push notification, a text and an email. If she has her phone, I can call her and direct her back home using the reliable GPS on the device. If not, I can direct my sister to head her off at the pass, usually halfway to Ann Arbor, using the GPS on her iPhone and my mom’s GPS. The last time my sister had to go after my mom, I changed the boundaries on the system to give me more notice that she had turned the wrong way. My mom is always surprised and relieved when she gets a call from us or my sister drives up alongside her a few minutes after she realizes she is lost.
What Are You Doing to Leverage Your Data?
Even when technology is not embraced or in my mom’s case, understood, it can be diffused. Location tracking software can be installed in company-owned vehicles enabling the company to evaluate the safety and utility of their fleet. Years ago this type of implementation might cost tens of thousands of dollars a vehicle, now it is often built in with onboard modems. Do we use the data to understand the driving patterns of our fleet? Do we have alarms that go off when a vehicle is driven to Las Vegas for the weekend (assuming Las Vegas is out of the territory)? What are we doing to change our processes based on the data we get from our systems?
Analyzing Business Processes: Cameras and Beyond
Cameras can be used to analyze business processes. Industrial Engineering is the science of process and it is often necessary to look at how processes work through physical observation or digital data. How long does it take to process an insurance claim? How many people have to touch (physically or digitally) the claim before it is processed? How many steps are there between manufacturing cells on a plant floor? Would it be better to move the cells around or closer together? How many calls does the best salesperson in the company make to close a deal? How many calls does the worst salesperson make? Is your CRM system changing the way sales people work?
Crucial Role of Manufacturing Data: Insights for Efficiency
Data is a principle reason for technology, but how adept are we at analyzing that data and making adjustments to improve our business? Manufacturing data holds the key to understanding and improving processes on the plant floor. It is a huge focus for industrial engineers who are supposed to scour through the data looking for efficiencies that will trim off costs to improve our profitability. Do we do that? That was what convinced us to buy the system in the first place. Have we fulfilled our part of the equation or are we just disappointed in the results of the implementation?
My husband Bob, who has been a CFO for decades, tells me regularly that the forecasting feature of CRM never works. Just like that, it doesn’t work. I assure him that having worked for CRM companies and used CRM religiously that it ABSOLUTELY WORKS! When I investigated his claim, I learned that several sales teams were not using the system to track opportunities. What?! Of course forecasting doesn’t work if all the salespeople aren’t using the system correctly! Management discipline and follow through are critical when you want to get the benefits out of your technology. We need to use the system correctly and look at the data and make process adjustments in order to achieve the results that the Vendor’s PowerPoint promised us.
Case Study: 3M’s Culture of Diffusion
In one of my PhD classes, we read a case study called 3M – The First 100 years. The case study highlights the many ways that 3M diffused innovations into their diverse businesses. It highlights the culture of discovery where researchers stumbled onto new uses for products through the observation of a technology in ordinary life and business. Post-it notes technology was elevated, for example, when one 3M researcher used the adhesive to make a bookmark for his choir book. Another researcher stumbled upon the idea for Scotchgard when she dropped a jet fuel innovation on her canvas shoe and noticed that the substance resisted stains.
Another example of their culture of diffusion was their 3M Innovative Properties unit where division-wide sharing of new innovations was facilitated. The division’s members brought new innovations/products so other units could apply the new technology in their specific space. From which came products like adhesive-backed medical draping. “Getting behind the smokestacks” was a program involving “lead users”. They wanted to understand how their customers use their products in “demanding situations”. The observations they made watching automotive customers using their sandpaper, led to new products like masking tape.
How are your people using your technology? Are they using all the features? What have you learned? Are you changing your processes as a result of the new systems and the data coming from the technology? Either way, and in my experience, you really can teach an old dog new tricks.
