Happy Ides!

A quick anecdote, followed by the lesson I learned (or, perhaps more accurately, learned again) …

… Not long ago I was having an email exchange with a good acquaintance.  After a bit of back-and-forth, it became obvious email might not be the best communication channel to reach an agreement.  Guess what?  We arranged a good old-fashioned phone call, and the “gap” was resolved in a few moments.  Plus, we had a delightful visit!

The lesson re-learned?  Don’t be so frigging lazy, Sammy!

Email.  Perhaps TikTok, SnapChat, InstaGram or Slack.  All have their place and most certainly will continue to be valuable.  Yet, Frank Zappa said it best ages ago, “Email is great, but it doesn’t have eyebrows!”

Subject lines are short by definition.  Pixels typically don’t have nuance.  Email is usually piss-poor at communicating complex subjects or topics.  Emoticons illustrate yet fail to fully convey any depth of emotion (s).  Misunderstanding is all-too-common and beyond frustrating, right?

Whenever there’s even a smidgeon of doubt, pick up the phone and have a conversation.  It will serve you well in at least two ways:

1.  Communication will be more accurate.  There’s a MUCH BETTER chance what you are trying to say will be understood exactly as intended; and,
2.  IF follow-up communication is required, it will likely be better and more efficient as a result of the phone call!

You got it, a virtuous circle!

In reality, there’s also a possible third outcome – the conversation might be enjoyable!

I look forward to SPEAKING with you soon!

P.S.  Yes, an on-the-fly zoom (or like) call is good, too.  However, most of the time these get “scheduled” and there’s No Reason to wait!