Omnivores

The Omnivores aren’t defined by old school vs. new school thinking, they could be the CEO right at the top or a mid level manager running sales teams – they are adaptable to many scenarios.

Omnivores are not locked to a specific generation and have a very wide demographic spread, however you will typically not find any omnivores once you get into the younger millennial groups and keep pushing the age down so keep that in mind.

Omnivores don’t think in absolutes, and certainly don’t need convincing that technology is here to influence and reshape the methods with which we approach business. That being said they’re still not looking to adopt technology just for the hell of it.

They approach potential technology adoption from a holistic viewpoint – is it going to benefit me and my business?

More importantly, they consider the impact on the organisation as a whole – will this technology suit our people? Can we make it a success?

This is perhaps the most important question, and one which most people entirely forget when they are considering new technologies and solutions to adopt.

Omnivores therefore can be both leaders and decision makers within an organisation but could also be followers and influencers lower down the hierarchy. Interestingly enough whether they are decision makers or not omnivores tend to be the group that is best suited to seeing the benefits and challenges to technology adoption in today’s fragmented environment.

This viewpoint of considering the experience from the perspective of both carnivores and herbivores gives them a better understanding of whether or not there’s a genuine chance of successful adoption.

Mindset

When considering the mindset of the Omnivore it’s an interesting opportunity to not only understand how they see and work with the challenges around them, but also to frame the mindset of the other dinosaurs.

As Omnivores have mainly come from generations that grew up with the early stages of rapid technology developments – colour television, computers and the internet – they do not see technology as a direct challenge but understand the value and benefits it enables.

Despite this acceptance of technology they are still not born into the agile mindset of the millennial, growing up with interconnected devices, high performance gaming consoles or touch screen devices so there is still a barrier when it comes to the app culture and attention deficit engagement of the Carnivores.

This is why Omnivores are great enablers within organisations – they have the respect and trust of the experienced Herbivores and decision makers alongside the understanding and proximity to technology that allows them to champion new projects and platforms for internal adoption.

They can hold their own in conversations with Carnivores when discussing tech, the Omnivores were there first – they were coders and programmers in the early tech days and know the basic building blocks that have supported and enabled the technology we now all take for granted – don’t underestimate the knowledge and insights of an Omnivore or you’ll regret it…

Challenges

The challenge that can emerge with Omnivores is that they may try to align themselves too closely to the Herbivores or Carnivores.

Their true strength lies in bridging that gap between modes of thinking and not in bolstering the ranks of one group over another.

They can take independant stand points when it comes to various platforms and offer insights to validity with their experience from previous roles / projects or even similar scenarios where a new technology has been selected and pushed out to a team or organisation.

Omnivores can typically meld into the background though as they advance to mid level management and the inherent reluctance to ‘rock the boat’ starts to define their decision making.

“I don’t want to be the one making noise as it might impact my promotion…” – if you’re not willing or able to offer your insight on something as impactful as a new technology or platform rollout then you’re not doing yourself or your role justice

The strength of any individual comes from their experience, even more so with Omnivores.

If your organisation has a group of (or just any) Omnivores that are vocal and tech oriented, these are ideal resources to both gauge readiness amongst teams for adoption and to help champion and support these projects once you’ve made the decision to go ahead.