The Day the World Sped Up

Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009 | 9:41 a.m.

The Earth spins at about 1,040 mph. That’s fast. I remember when it wasn’t that fast and I remember the first day the world sped up.

It was 1989 and I was working with a client from Chicago, a long way from my home in Las Vegas. He asked me to send a facsimile of the document that I was working on for him. “Facsimile? Fax? Oh, we don’t have one of those machines yet.” So I went down to my local print shop and paid to use its fax machine. Eight dollars later and I had sent an incomplete document to my client. That was the first day of business instant gratification.

And so the world became faster -- no longer could you say you’d pop it in the mail tomorrow, giving you the extra time to polish up your document overnight. The facsimile became the new standard and a Fax Server business opened up in my building. We eventually purchased a fax machine, the type with the thermal paper-on-a-roll, leaving you with curly pages that you couldn’t file well and that would turn black or fade if you left them on your desk or in the sunlight.

My firm didn’t get electronic mail or an Internet connection until 1993. I think we were one of the early adopters. E-mail was the next step in ramping up business speed. I also remember using an Internet search engine called Alta Vista (I think the company is still around) well before Google became a verb.

Twenty years later: Today I worked on this blog remotely via Wi-Fi at Starbucks, typed an RFQ response and sent it to my colleagues using my iPhone, and posted my status on Facebook before tweeting a link to an article I found online. Upon arriving at my office, I conducted a video chat with my CFO, who lives in Idaho. Later in the day, I connected with my RFQ team via conference call, simultaneously checking my soccer team’s schedule via Google calendar and texting with my youngest son who had just arrived home from school.

As the world continues to speed up, connection to your clients and co-workers becomes even more important. This human touch is the heart of business and one of the reasons I write this column. People have an instinctive need to stay engaged with each other. Your clients need to know you care. Try calling them instead of sending an e-mail. I think you will be surprised at their reaction. The same is true for your co-workers. Drop by their desk in lieu of the more impersonal electronic connection. It will help you build your relationship.

Social media is growing in leaps and bounds. It is estimated that more than half the people who have an Internet connection have a Facebook account. Technology has allowed us to create relationships that we never could have created before. Try to enhance these relationships with a personal connection and, in all likelihood, they will grow and endure. We all need the personal touch. I’m not sure that there is an “app” for that -- and even if there is one, you will differentiate yourself in this fast-paced technological world by retaining the human touch, or as like to say, “The Heart of Business.”

I’d like to hear from you:

• Are you finding the fast-paced world less engaging?

• Do you miss the human touch in business?

Until next time …

Craig