You may have heard the word. One way it is used today is to describe people who refuse to embrace technology and want to stay grounded in the ways they know, i.e. the past. This seems timely given Apple’s announcement yesterday of two new phones and soon to be released watch that seems equivalent to something from an old science fiction movie.
Today, in business, refusing to embrace technology is a mistake. And this does not mean you have to purchase every new device that comes out, but that you have to find devices that work for you and allow you to be more efficient and serve your customers and clients better.
People are proud when they don’t have smart phones or use current technology in their business lives. I understand this because I have caught flack in my personal life for years from friends and family for not being on Facebook. For me it’s not about being proud to not be on Facebook, it’s about time. But in my business I am open to try whatever I can to save time, use less paper, stay in better contact with my connections, access information faster, be better organized, etc. And it is not about being left behind. It is about positioning myself to do my job better and better serve my clients.
We live in the 21st century. If you, your company, your employees are not utilizing the available tools you already are behind. Scoff if you want, but lamenting the loss of the way business used to be done will get you nowhere and the past is never coming back. You don’t have to like it, but you have to be somewhere on the learning curve of technology, riding the wave. Don’t be left behind.
