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As I said in the original post, I had the awesome opportunity to attend NTEN's NTC a couple weeks ago. One of the many interesting take-aways I had dealt with the fact that many of us in technology positions in our nonprofits didn't "intend" to be techies. The blurb I gave before said:
Many "techies" in nonprofit organizations don't have an extensive background, or training in technology. Instead, we/they/you are called "accidental techies," meaning that the circumstances were such that it was necessary to have a tech person fix something or help someone and that person, for whatever reason the universe held, was us/them/you. And thus began our/their/your career as a NP techie. BUT, the "accidental"-ness of the position, in no way lessons the legitimacy of the position!
So, what does that mean? Let me expand that thinking...
Often, nonprofits have a small staff and the positions that are held do not include a specific technology associate or officer, etc. Instead, technology problems (installing software, fixing the printer, you know the like) are dealt with by the staff volunteer who feels the most comfortable or confident or willing to tackle them. So, guilty by association, right? Once you installed some software, you became the person who could trouble-shoot that software, then the rest of the operating system and so on. Technology responsibilities became so much of your job that it actually became your job and thus the techie position at your organization was born.
That's the way it happens for so many of us and there is nothing wrong with it! But, not having a rounded or deep background in technology developments/usage/structure can lead to a lot of stunted tech adoption for the organization. There are two things you can do now, and every day, to avoid stunting your own work and the work of the organization you serve:
Personal usage = personal learning: Start using new tools on a personal basis. This is the best way to gain a perspective on how developing technologies could be used in your organization. Don't just use the tools though, stay on top of developments and what the larger community is saying about tools, software, hardware, etc. You might have to use some personal time to work on this personal use project, but hopefully you love technology and it isn't a pain to be learning something new!
Isolation = burn out: Make sure you remember that you are not alone! You may be the only one at the organization that has familiarity with something, or an opinion on a product, or even knowledge of a development; this does not mean you are alone though, as there are tech folks at all of those other organizations feeling the same way. Plug into the communities that support your work.
