A tech company is a living entity defined by the people who work together to make the vision successful. Each and every employee irrespective of the grade or the role has some impact to make to the company. The impact is largely the function of two things: the success of role one is into and their own learning.
The biggest advantage of being in the tech industry is that you get to see new technologies, newer business models and be part of evolving customer behaviors. Companies who have been successful are either the one who brings these changes or learn fast enough compared to their competitors.
Being a fast learner could be a great competitive advantage when you are in the tech industry especially a service company.
The only way a company can be a fast learner is when the employee themselves are the agent of learning. Personally, in these four years, I felt that not all people are prepared to learn, not all are willing to learn and not all want to learn. Learners share some common traits of being self-motivated, curious and self-aware. They are willing to take the tag of being a beginner and explore something outside of their comfort zone or expertise zone. They want to understand new things for themselves and they have a clear vision of who they are and what they know. Steve Jobs in a commencement address said — Stay Hungry, Stay foolish. It was so right and apt both for an individual level and an entity like a tech company.
Ever wondered why most of the learning happens when we are a kid? It’s largely because kids are curious. They want something relentlessly and hence they are adamant in nature too. Curiousity makes you venture into something new, something unknown. The two golden words — how and why hints how curious you are with respect to the things. As we grow, our so-called limited knowledge becomes the biggest hindrance to this childhood drive. We stop being curious and start being ignorant.
Similarly, a company needs to continually tap on to the new technologies, move up the value chain by adding something new and different to their existing offerings. They need to question themselves if they are stuck on to the same offering for a longer period. They need to be vigilant enough to see themselves being the only player rather than just being one of the players in the market. And this will only happen when employees are willing to learn and experiment with something new, they are willing to step out of their so-called expertise zone to venture into the latest and unexplored areas. They are willing to be the beginners once again.
Being a “fast learning” organization will very well be the biggest strength and competitive advantage for service-based companies in the tech industry.
Happy Reading !!
Nishant Verma (CEO, TestVagrant Technologies & Author of Mobile Test Automation with Appium)
