One of my sisters is in town this week, and we sat on my porch the other night (like siblings) arguing.  This wasn’t a heated exchange, but a back-and-forth debate about the industrial revolution.  I may have touched on this in a previous blog, but my sister is of firm belief that the industrial revolution is the worst thing to ever happen.  I, pushed more toward the contrary by her stubbornness, believe it has improved our way of life.  But, as the days pass and I think of cooler or less anecdotal things I could have said, I also give heavy thought to ubiquity of technology that has sprung forth over the last century.  In particular, I think about emails and text messages.

Over the past decade, text and email use have exploded.  An estimated 247 billion emails are sent every day (as of 2010, according to the Radicati Group Inc.).  These communication mediums have increased the breadth of communication reach, but also to have removed some of the depth of a one-on-one discussion.  In an era when a Facebook user can have 1,000 connections and no real relationships, it can be difficult to build true rapport with people.   Especially in business.

To quote Harry Mintzberg and Peter Todd of McGill University, “Using only words, through a text or email, takes away from the nuance that comes from seeing and hearing people, from exchanging points of view and working toward agreements.”

This is one of the reasons I enjoy where I work.  We talk to people.  We meet with them.  We develop camaraderie that extends past our business dealings to build personal ties.  And, we do it day in, day out.

Many of our blogs end with the offer to call an Application Engineer.  We mean it.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
1-800-903-9247
leeevans@exair.com
@EXAIR_LE