Using the financial terms bullish and bearish, I considered myself a bearish investor in face-time (meetings). Having spent twenty years working exclusively from home my position had largely stayed the same, all-while socially distancing the entire time. While experts predict a paradigm shift and reduction in corporate travel, I am betting that in-person meetings will come back strong. It only took one interaction for me to change a twenty-year mindset.
Context.
I have considered myself a subject matter expert on working remotely, to a point where writing a book felt right — if I had the skills to do it. Limitless is teaching me that I might, but for now I rather listen to others share their stories. NPR’s 1A dedicated their show, titled “Working Remotely In the Near (And Distant) Future” which covered many areas and highlighted one key point: we have moved remote work’s adoption over three years in three months. While I highly encourage everyone to have a listen, this story is not about the conversation. Rather, this one thought continued to churn in my head and primed my awareness, specifically making an ordinary interaction extraordinary the following day.
The broadcast was on Wednesday and I reluctantly went to sleep as I just wanted to explore each topic. Thursday morning began like many others, by squinting at my phone attempting to see what madness the day may bring. Part of this process is skimming my e-mail; I work globally and action happens in all twenty-four timezones. Among the messages was a fairly standard inquiry from a customer wanting to do something that is documented as not possible. I was tagged in it to provide additional feedback and in nearly every circumstance my answer would have been an explanation for why the activity is a bad idea. Except that this time I knew the impossible was possible.
Except that this time I knew the impossible was possible.
While I cannot disclose the details of the inquiry, I can assure everyone that the words written asked a standard question. There was no nuance, no plight, no background — it was a plain inquiry with a known and standardized answer. In fact, it had already gone through an initial loop or responses and the customer was on a path to being content with the reply. Despite all that, I read it and instantly knew this needed me.
Continuity.
Just over a year ago this customer took a 15 hour flight to meet our team at an event. We spent about a day together and he hopped on a plane to fly home for another 15 hours. While some of that time was structured we had time to eat together, talk about our families, our way of life — to get to know each other. While I cannot recall many of the details of our conversations, I knew that this was a customer willing to go the extra kilometer over uncharted terrain and appreciated a vendor that did the same.
When presented with this seemingly innocuous challenge, I was reading it in context of our relationship. I knew that he already knew the answer we would give him. I knew he was hoping for some other option. I knew he was willing to accept a “hack” if it moved his project along. I knew that the reason he was asking was because bureaucracy on his side would delay his project by months. I knew that doing things by the book would be detrimental to the outcomes. Most importantly, I knew I could break our own commitment to never offer half-solutions because it was the right thing to do. I knew all of this this because we met in person.
I knew all of this this because we met in person.
The rest of this story is as one would expect. I stepped into the conversation, answered the question and queued up a carrot that I knew he would take — which he did. I drafted notes for doing the impossible possible and sent them. The solution is a kludge, but he knows that and he will handle it. I know we each understand the implications and the risks. In the end, I know that his deliverables to his customers will better for it and he can spend more time with his family as a result.
Conveyance.
Going bullish on in-person meetings means that, while the world might be getting used to socially-distanced existence, there is an opportunity to differentiate. A part of me believes that we, as humanoids, will return to our socially-integrated existence naturally. However, should that not happen, I believe that telecommuting ninjas should seize this chance and become the leaders in meaningful and resourceful human-to-human interactions. Success is three parts: opportunity, resources, and timing. The opportunity is as described, the resources are our environments — our homes and spaces are designed for our needs, and the timing is the pandemic. While so many are committing energy to transition to telework we have elbow room to grow. Ultimately, this moment shows us how to optimize time to get more value our of time together.
