One day your boss walks into your office. With a sheepish expression on his face, he says, “Um…yeah. We’d like you to dig a hole to China. Here’s your spoon.”

What do you do when your company-provided tools aren't up to the job?

What do you do next? Do you take the spoon and start digging, trusting that the boss knows what he’s doing? Or do you explain that the tool just isn’t up to the task?

If you work in a large organization, you face this choice every day. The tools provided by the IT department are usually of the one-size-fits-all variety. But specialized tasks require specialized tools.

When did the Information Technology department become the Impeding Technology department?

In a misguided attempt to cut costs, many organizations have settled for a standardized office suite and cookie-cutter intranet portal. But if your company trades in information and is staffed with knowledge workers, IT is saving money at the expense of productivity — your productivity.

You were hired for your skills and expertise. If your company forces you to use sub-standard tools, you can’t be effective in your role.

But there are signs that the tide is starting to turn. The Wall Street Journal says it’s time to let knowledge workers pick their tools. More and more companies allow their employees to use tools that operate outside the corporate firewall. And we think there’s hope for desktop and mobile devices as well.

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