A number of years ago, I wrote this:
I am not Tech Savvy! If I had a pair of dimes for every time someone said, ‘Dave, you are good with computers, can you help me with this…” then I could retire early. I’ll explain this with a tangent example: The fact is that I happen to be a very good driver. Put me behind the wheel of a car, even in a snow storm, and I’ll get you to your destination safely. However, don’t ask me to do anything more to the car than put gas or windshield washer fluid in it… maybe check the tire pressure… that’s it! Give me a working computer and I can do pretty good there too! Not because I’m savvy though… just because I spend hours trying things.
Yesterday @AubreyDiOrio tweeted:
PSA
Tech savvy teachers don’t know everything. They just start playing & clicking until they figure it out. Sometimes they google to figure out how do do things. A lot, we reach out to others to test out different ideas.
Just start clicking! You can do hard things!
— Aubrey DiOrio (she/her) (@AubreyDiOrio) August 20, 2020
And I responded:
Whenever someone tells me that I’m ‘tech-savvy’, I disagree with them… I’m just patient and willing to try things without fear of breaking things that can’t be fixed. https://t.co/zKd16pKP6z
— Dᴀᴠɪᴅ Tʀᴜss ∞β (@datruss) August 20, 2020
Then @RobHeinrichs replied to me saying:
Mind set is so important. I believe I can figure it out when it come to tech. I can’t always do it, there is a lot that is beyond my level of knowledge. Many people have that same level of confidence but in different areas. I like to remind them of what they are good at & why.
— 𝗥𝗼𝗯 𝗛𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘀 (@robheinrichs) August 21, 2020
We are all good at different things that we are also not necessarily experts in. Our mindsets really do matter. Our willingness to be patient, ask questions, and tinker also matter.
When I say I’m not tech savvy, it means that I don’t know how to code or do programming. It means I can’t build a computer without a manual, a dozen YouTube ‘How to’ videos, and phoning a friend. It means that when I see an error, I can only fix it with the help of Google… if I can fix it at all. It means I point people to tech support after I’ve failed to help.
Yet I’m asked tech questions all the time. I’m looked at to solve problems that I don’t know how to solve when I’m asked. But I’m willing to put in the time, research, and energy to figure it out… and I’m not afraid to ask for help myself. That’s not savvy, that’s patience and effort, all dressed up to look like savvy… it’s a fun outfit, and you can wear it too.
Hi Dave!
If I can remember enough keyboard shortcuts, I will feel tech savvy enough.
I think you are so right. I was recently told that what I do was magic. As I wrote, I simply believe that I have spent more time caring and trying to make sense of the particular problem at hand than somebody else. This is not necessarily a knowledge or a skill, but rather an attitude.
It really is an attitude Aaron.
Reading your post last night, I was struck by this:
“For me this means taking risks based on prior learnings and experience. I may not have all the answers, but I think I am good at capturing particular problems at hand and with that drawing on past practice to come up with possible solutions. I am going to assume this is why people come to me with such diverse questions and quandaries.”
That is a shift in thinking from, ‘they come to me as an expert’, to ‘I’ve demonstrated an ability to problem solve in this domain’. And so attitude matters more than skills and knowledge.