Technologists Corner

This group exists to cultivate a more generalist orientation within the technology industry.

Modern technology rewards specialisation. There is enormous value in deep technical expertise, but depth can also create tunnel vision: an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the tool, accompanied by a diminishing understanding of what the tool is actually for.

Technology only makes sense in context.

We build software, infrastructure, data systems and products because someone, somewhere, is trying to accomplish something. That purpose might be commercial, organisational, social or deeply personal, but technology is ultimately an instrument in service of human goals.

Yet in the industry, it is easy to lose sight of this. Technical problems become ends in themselves. Teams optimise systems without understanding the organisations around them. Elegant solutions are built for problems that barely matter. Resources are spent improving what can be measured rather than questioning what should be done in the first place.

This group is for technologists who want to see the larger system.

People interested not only in engineering, but in business, design, psychology, economics, organisations, strategy, culture, operations, philosophy and whatever else helps us understand the environments in which technology actually operates.

You do not need to call yourself a generalist. You do not need to know everything. Curiosity is enough.

If the ideas above feel obvious to you—or if something in them makes you think, “yes, this is the conversation I’ve been missing”—you will probably find people worth talking to here.

Come to learn, argue, teach, collaborate, make friends, build things, or simply meet other people who are trying to understand more than their own little corner of the machine.