Life use to be very simple.  Technology first appeared in the workplace.  We were gradually exposed to new ways of doing things, enabled by technology. We would discuss the new technology over dinner with the family or with friends on the golf course.  The exposure to new technology was slow, methodical and over time expectations were set that this type of technology would ultimately be available to ‘me’, at home.

In this environment, corporations could take their time in assessing the value of new technology.  They would observe other companies, in their market space and outside it.  When they felt there was value to be had with minimal risk the adoption of new technology would take a measurable step forward.  Movies and TV shows that used technology at part of their story line, be it serious or tongue in cheek, engaged the imagination of consumers.  The success of shows, “back in the day”, as my teenage son would say, like Mission Impossible, Get Smart, James Bond, 2001, clearly signaled the intrigue that technology held for consumers in their personal lives.

As technology began to leak into the consumers’ world, it was the early adopters that first became involved and gradually, over time, began to expand to the majority of the population.  Cases in point, the ATM machine, the personal computer, the cell phone.  Sure price played a significant role in the early stages of adoption but it was really a mind-set (early adopters) that initiated each product’s adoption cycle.

Well this model has been completely turned upside-down.  Today many socio-technological trends are starting on the consumer side and in relatively short periods of time are putting pressure on corporations to get their act in gear to meet the expectations of their current and new employees and by extension their customer franchises.

Just think of this scenario. A college senior who has become accustomed to totally controlling the flow of information, having ubiquitous and immediate contact with friends, enjoying simple search tools and taking for granted online collaboration with friends through social networks and online gaming has an ingrained expectation about the role of technology in his life.  The entire concept of infotainment scheduling (i.e. scheduled TV viewing) has given way to time shifting and personal infotainment management.  Additionally, he now has the ability to actually participate in and alter the outcome of content (casting votes for American Idol contestants).

He now enters the workforce and finds that when he gets to his job that he cannot do the things he has come to view as “expected”.  There is no simple, universal tool for collaboration, enterprise search is not an easy task, IT policy takes away some of his social networking tools (iPhone for example).  W’ssup with that?

Socio-technical expectations are now being set on the consumer side of a person’s life. This is beginning to have profound influence on how workers perform in the workplace.  It also has a significant impact on how consumers assess and engage all the brands that touch their lives. The aspirational day dreams that once were associated with the hope of technology coming to the consumer world have evolved into the nightmare of not be able to do things at work that are taken for granted at home.

What’s a company to do now?

Companies must begin to learn how this shift in the balance of expectation setting is actually working within their organization and they must also begin to map how this socio-technological expectation setting is influencing the purchase decision-making of their audiences.

Most companies are ill equipped to do this on their own.  Their approach to problem definition and solution is based on experience and momentum thinking™, which offers questionable value in a dynamically new context.  This calls to mind a quote from Albert Einstein, “You Can’t Solve A Problem With the Same Logic That Created It.”

Companies need to find a strategic guide who can help them navigate this new context and begin to evolve their team’s thinking in a world where the customer’s and employee’s life experiences are setting the bar for brand expectations.