Get Even

Good Morning,

Happy Friday! Even though many of us frequently work on Saturdays, there’s still something nice about Fridays. We get to, symbolically at least, conclude one week and prepare for a fresh start on Monday. Plus I just like saying it – “Happy Friday” – because it’s important to celebrate things that make us smile, even if they seem trivial. But enough about that…

Today, my topic is technology, particularly information technology.

Technology can help us or hurt us. Our use of technology can cause us to be either more efficient or less focused, more informed or less knowledgeable and more linked-in or less connected.

Information technology is on my mind today because I was recently thwarted by it. (More about that in a minute…)

But the point is, if we want to be really successful in today’s business world, we can’t run away from technology or try to circumvent it just because we find it frustrating. We must make the most of technology or we’ll lose the business race to someone who does, in the same way we would lose a street race to someone with a faster car no matter how comfortable we feel driving the slower car or using the outdated technology. We have to seek out and use technology that will help us achieve our goals in today’s world.

One of my goals is to send you a helpful message each Friday. I originally thought writing the message would be the hard part (silly me) but it turns out that getting email messages to transmit reliably is the real challenge. I discovered that my email account doesn’t always deliver all my Friday notes. (Maybe it likes some of my ideas better than others?)

You can imagine my frustration when I discovered this. But I managed to control myself from throwing my computer out the window and going back to U.S. mail delivery. Instead of running away from technology, I’m incorporating a new tool to help achieve my goal.

My friend Steve Acho suggested, and helped me establish, this blog site where I’ve posted my previous sunny notes and where I’ll add a new one each Friday. So anytime you want to see what I’ve come up with, you can come here to http://a-sunny-note.blogspot.com even if you don’t get my email.

In short, pretty much everyone can benefit in some way from utilizing new technology – new software, new devices, you name it. Even though doing things “the way we’ve always done them” may seem like the easiest option and learning new technology can be frustrating, it’s worth it.

So “don’t get mad, get even” – even more educated, even more skilled and even more successful.

Have a Sunny Day,

Clarity

P.S. Don’t be shy about asking for help (remember “Just Ask” from December 4th). To help me learn how to improve my email system, I consulted a very helpful engineer named Jesse with Awecomm Technologies in Troy. Their team also provides outstanding service to Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury and I’m happy to recommend them: www.awecomm.com.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
www.MetroMichigan.com
313-670-7505