> but even re-inventions of the wheel usually come with a fresh perspective and incremental improvements over the last time I appreciate what you are saying, a

> but even re-inventions of the wheel usually come with a fresh perspective and incremental improvements over the last time I appreciate what you are saying, and I definitely think that some folks take the "here we go again" attitude towards a new approach that may very likely have a significant and positive impact on whatever they are working on. That said... That situation strikes me as relatively rare. More often than not, I see people get excited about whatever the new flavor-of-the-month hotness is, and they forget about real world issues. One simple example is when the cost in money and (possibly) morale is not taken into account when switching from one technology to another. Sure, you may get a 1% incremental improvement in some metric that may save you X dollars, but the switch will cost 5x dollars to implement with additional soft costs like potential loss of morale and potential loss of efficiency due to lack of familiarity with the new system. I see this type of decision making frequently, and I consider it extremely poor form. I think it's really important to ask why something needs to be done and to ask what the actual costs of switching are (esp. for folks on the front line). If the answer to why is "it will get someone a promotion for little or no benefit" or "a leader somewhere wants to brag / humble-brag about the new hotness with their peers", then the decision to use a new technology can usually be postponed to a later date. These are not uncommon scenarios, and they frequently cost companies dearly.