I love learning new things and recently I came across an interesting term born out of the tech world. Dogfooding. Yes, that’s right I said Dogfooding. According to Wikipedia “Eating your own dog food, also called dogfooding, occurs when an organisation uses its own product. This can be a way for an organisation to test its products in real-world usage. Hence dogfooding can act as quality control, and eventually a kind of testimonial advertising. Once in the market, dogfooding demonstrates confidence in the developers' own products.”
Now that you’ve heard the term are you like me asking yourself, do I dogfood? Does my company? Which companies don’t dog food and why?
What you may find interesting is that many screen-based product providers in the tech industry don’t consume their products or significantly restrict themselves and their children from using them. I recently shared an example on LinkedIn where Bill Gates forbade cell phones for his children before the age of 14. This post generated a huge amount of conversation with over 75,000 views from mainly parents challenged with regulating their children’s use of technology. Psychologist Adam Alter in his TED Talk ‘Why Screens Make Us Less Happy’ highlights that at the Waldorf School Of the Peninsula, a place where 75% of the kids belong to high-level tech execs from Silicon Valley, they don’t introduce screens till the 8th grade.
At BKindred we are all about putting humans first in a world of exponential technology. We teach people how to make intentional change in order to thrive, and damn we binge on our own dog food. How could you teach people that busy = bullshit, that focus and the space for less matters in a world that’s designed to distract you, or to be fearless or curious in the every day if you didn’t live and breathe it! I ask you how can you expect others to purchase your product or services if you are not willing to consume them yourself?
If you own a company and you’re not dogfooding, what does it say about your care for the future of humanity, your care to betterment society?
What if we applied this concept of dogfooding to the ethical debate around the introduction of new technologies. What if one of the criteria for assessing the impact of a new technology on humanity was whether the founder/s were willing to use the product themselves, or have their loved family or friends use it long term?
Food for thought, or perhaps more fittingly dog food for thought.
BKindred is on a mission to teach 10 million humans how to intentionally adapt, in order to future proof happiness by 2025. We put humans first in a world of technology, skilling you, your people and organisation to thrive in the future. Learn more about the Intentional Adaptability Quotient® (IAQ®) and why it is the new competitive advantage. Are you ready for the future? Take our free Intentional Adaptability Quotient® Self-Assessment here.
