Have you ever watched kids with a passion for soccer or field hockey? In fact, have you ever observed anyone passionate about a sport? In general, the equipment doesn’t matter; the important thing is to be able to play and do your activity. Equipment, location, start to matter when you want to optimize your performance and be sure of winning… otherwise, a ball, a puck, a piece of land and you’re having fun.
For exercise enthusiasts, a gym with the right equipment isn’t necessary either. It’s all about getting into shape.
It’s the same for companies and projects. When a person is passionate, the tool doesn’t matter, the work will get done.
- If we’re talking about accounting, we’ll be using scraps of paper, a spreadsheet and certified software.
- In project management, we use post-its, a whiteboard, a spreadsheet and the software available.
- In programming, the available language, the available framework, even if you have to invent it if there’s nothing practical about it.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that the cost of equipping someone to do a job is inversely proportional to their motivation to do it. The less motivated a person is, the more important equipment becomes. And when the job doesn’t get done, it’s usually the equipment’s fault. On the contrary, the more the person is motivated by the result, the more the person is passionate about the field, the less important the tool. We adapt, we improvise, we get results and often when we see the result we exclaim: “Wow, and you managed to do all that with that?”
It’s a pity, because the first reflex in business is often to acquire new software.