Windows & Operating Systems & The things we get used to

I've had a frustrating time of late with Windows Vista. Yeah, I know, late to the party, upgrade and shut up and all that. This isn't about Windows or PC's for that matter. While I've become a Mac-aholic admittedly, I can see that it's not the choice I've made that is the cause of the frustration, rather it's what we're used to and how that drives our behavior.

If I normally drive on the left side, when I'm in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Hong Kong or Australia, I'm uncomfortable on the right side. (For a while at least, then it feels natural to operate the gears with my left hand). I'm used to the left-side drive as that's what I do most of the time, and so the level of comfort I have with the alternative is low. Work is the same way - getting used to a new client, I'm amazed often at what they know and don't know based on comparisons to other clients, when in reality that has no bearing on them whatsoever.

So, what's the lesson here ? I'd put forth that whatever it is that you're used to is invariably going to be viewed as more comfortable to what you aren't used to dealing with. I'd go further to say that this is one of the factors at the heart of the "not invented here" syndrome you so often see in business. As kludgy as a given solution is, if it's 'ours' then we tend to think of our legacy approach more highly than anyone else. My Windows issue is the same I'm sure, as I rarely play with configuration settings on it anymore, they are all stupid, not as well as thought out on a Mac...they aren't in reality, it's just different.

Is this so screamingly obvious that it's not news..? Perhaps. But think for a moment about that which frustrated you most - the most recent thing - then ask yourself objectively if that thing is truly 'the worst piece of sh*t ever', or if maybe it's your perspective as you aren't used to dealing with it/them and the missing alignment is actually yourself.

Often it's the truth in plain sight that we fail to see.