I WAS the Remote

Co-worker Rock and I often laugh about growing up in the 1960’s during the heyday of television, talking about how we were the “remote controls” — having to get up out of a chair and change the channel for a parent/sibling.

Today, Avrim Pitch penned an article about 15 common technology items today’s infants will never use.

Several years ago, we provided my sons cell phones for us to stay in touch. My eldest asked me: “Dad, what kind of cell phone did you have when you were a kid?” I laughed so hard I almost snorted my coffee, telling him I was 26 when they were invented.

The technology march is incessant. I have witnessed: a) punch cards to tape; tape to floppies; floppies to hard disk; hard disk to solid state; now the cloud; b) vinyl to tape; tape to CD, CD to MP3; c) rotary dial to touch tone; analog to digital voice; wireline to cellular; d) mainframe to mini; mini to micro; micro to smartphone; smartphone to tablet; e) command-line to GUI; GUI to touch; touch to voice; voice to gesture. (See: “Wave goodbye to how we use computers”).

The pace of change is accelerating, causing product life cycles to shorten. A result — we can be easily seduced into chasing “the shiny new object.” However, it is important to remember that our business applications should provide productivity enhancements first, wow factor second. If you can do both, you have a winner.

My Christmas Wish List

What I want for 2012

1)      I want the partisan political rancor to end

2)      I want elected leaders to get real and pragmatic about fiscal affairs and make the tough decisions to “right the ship”

3)      I want Americans to remember we are a nation of great ideas, opportunities and responsibilities and that we have a long history of helping those less fortunate

4)      I want hard work, success and prosperity to be celebrated

5)      I want empathy, respect and compassion to be the norm

6)      I want accountability to be taken for granted

7)      I want optimism to be contagious

8)      I want us to welcome those seeking a better life and opportunities

9)      I want to call more people and nations “friends”

10)   I want to say something nice to everyone, every day.

And, I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a safe and joyous Holiday Season!

Where I’m Coming From

I recently traveled with my two sons on what Dylan referred to as the “history of Dad” trip. We traveled to my hometown for a memorial service for my father, passed through my college town and spent two days in the boys’ hometown – Pittsburgh, PA.

As the trip wound down, Dylan thanked me for taking him, saying: “…I now know where you are coming from.” When asked to elaborate he observed that he better understood my perspective now that he has seen the major influences on my life.

It’s true we ARE – as individuals – a collection of our experiences and influences. But, what about companies? Are they a collection of their influences as companies, or are they a collection of the collective experiences of all employees as individuals?
I was thinking about this today while reading about the Big 5 IT Trends for the next half decade.

Almost no companies have experience embracing all of these trends at once; companies will need to rely on the collection of individual experiences of their employees to fully embrace these trends. That’s where I’m coming from.

Doing the Right Thing; Paul and Edgar

Two weeks ago, I attended the Q1 Productions Life Sciences Sales and Marketing Compliance seminar in Chicago. It was an excellent event with lots of great content, very engaging speakers and an excellent opportunity for industry collaboration. I learned a lot and made many new friends.

However, this post is not about the event. It’s about two gentlemen who DID the right thing, and in the process saved me a ton of grief, aggravation, time and money.

Upon arrival at Hotel 71 Chicago, I valet parked my rental car. When I retrieved the car the next morning, the left-rear quarter panel had a two foot long scrape on it that was not there when I arrived. I reported this to Paul, the valet. He was very polite, contrite, and took a picture of the damage and told me he would have his manager prepare an insurance claim for me to process.

Because we waive all insurance from the rental car agencies, I was envisioning weeks of paper exchanging between our credit card company, the insurance company, the rental car agency and the hotel in order to get a claim processed.
When I checked out on the final day, Edgar, the other valet, informed me he had “one of the guys” buff out the scratch – it was no longer visible and the car was not damaged. I returned the car without incident.

Here’s a case where individual front-line employees were empowered to act, took the initiative and exceeded my service expectations. Edgar and Paul, thank you for your initiative; your actions have earned Hotel 71 a return customer in the future.

Booth Boy and Biology

Never once did I think tenth grade biology would have anything to do with my career. This past week at Digital Pharma West, I was proven wrong. Let me explain.

During a minor lull in booth traffic, I convinced a woman to come to our booth and talk. Her badge was partially hidden and only exposed her last name. In an effort to begin the conversation, I mentioned she and my tenth grade biology teacher and shared the same last name.

She looked right at me and said: “Wayne Welshans from Williamsport, PA. He’s my brother.” My booth-mate Lisa P. and I stood, mouths agape at this “small world” moment. We spent several minutes talking about her, her brother, and his final exam— which I remember to this day (some 30 years later). We went on to have a very lively business conversation that hopefully will lead to a fruitful partnership between our firms.

It is very easy to forget that business is all about relationships. On Wednesday, tenth grade biology reminded me of that. Wayne, thank you. You are still teaching me.