More Productive on a Mac
A good tradesman values his tools, and generally has a preference for one piece of equipment over another.
In my trade, the computer I use is my primary tool. My tool of choice is a Mac. I am able to be so much more productive on a Mac because it’s the tool I know inside out. Over years I have customised how the operating system works, added on various tools, and generally made it work even better for me than it does out of the box.
Unfortunately, in my organisation Windows remains king. My employer doesn’t have a formalised Bring Your Own Device policy, but at least in recent years they have made WiFi available for staff, although it is firewalled from the main networks.
Corporate IT versus innovation
Employees are assigned Windows-based equipment to staff, and only company-issued hardware is supported by IT. Only their Windows devices are able to connect and authenticate directly with the official network. These devices are also completely locked down so the user cannot install or customise these platforms to suit their own needs or abilities. This is based on the assumption that a worker will only ever want Microsoft Office, and the overriding preference for corporate IT to make their job easier.
I think this approach stifles of innovation. The use of applications that go beyond Office can allow for employees to discover more creative solutions to problems. If the only tool you have is Word/Excel/Powerpoint, then every problem has to be resolved in the same limited way. Yet I love mind-mapping with iThoughts, then using OPML to move the concepts between a map and an outline in OmniOutliner. I am faster using Launchbar than the Mac’s Finder (and infinitely quicker than using Windows Explorer!). I have Keyboard Maestro1 and Hazel managing the system and moving files and folders around automatically on my behalf. I write long-form business reports in Scrivener. Then, I can use all the hooks across the Apple ecosystem to establish synchronicity with an iPad 2. All of this customisations represents innovation that makes me more efficient, but all of it is in circumvention of corporate IT. If I limited myself to a Windows PC I would be worse at my job. I wouldn’t be happy if my carpenter was forced to use a junky Ozito saw for all his work, and I don’t see why knowledge workers are so often limited in the same way.
Firms need to move with the times
With the move to more cloud services, firms have the opportunity to release the reins on device management. Establishing and supporting a Bring Your Own Device policy becomes much easier when the device simply becomes a node connecting to cloud storage, email, and so on. If a company doesn’t support an employee’s efforts to expand their creativity and efficiency, they are likely to lose their most productive and creative people.
Also, consider the next generation of workers that have been brought up on phones running mobile operating systems. If a business doesn’t effectively support a multi-device, syncing approach, they may find that younger workers truly struggle to manage.