Baby Steps in the World of Technology
The past four weeks have been a series of breakthroughs for me in the world of technology. I recognize, however, that my progress may not appear that way for anyone else. That’s ok.
I can do passably with the computer software tools I’ve been working with – Microsoft Office, Zoom, Venmo, Dropbox, Uber and Google. Newer (for me) stuff like MS Teams is a stretch and still an uncomfortable one. Since tech advances are accelerating, I am likely to be left further behind the curve or at least become increasingly uncomfortable with what I don’t know and don’t know I don’t know.
I think I have found an approach to address this gap: learn at my own pace (recognizing that quicker is probably better) and ask for help, repeatedly.
With that in mind, I took steps a month ago to move forward – and upgrade my laptop. There was a deal to be had and improved battery life and expanded memory to leverage. Working with online sales support, I got my new laptop configured, purchased and delivered. Like my elliptical machine purchase, it sat in its box for a while before I took it out, then called premier tech support (the truth is enough), and got walked through an initial setup. So far, so good.
But I wasn’t done yet, nor up and functional. I still needed to get my data and apps ported from the old to the new machine. I needed my usual, local tech support. It took more than a day and several iterations to get it right, but they got it right. I had a functional laptop ready to take on my first trip in 16 months.
The night before I left, my colleague and friend Joe Slatter visited for the evening. Driving from Denver to Cleveland on business, he stopped in Chicago for the night. He accepted my request to help make my office more workable. We repositioned the printer and monitor, and connected the monitor to the laptop. He showed me how to work with both monitor and laptop screen. A revelation, but I will probably need another tutorial too.
While on the road and in San Francisco, my plans for getting to my cousin’s home were deflected by an Uber app that didn’t work. After effecting plan C and once arrived, I was able to uninstall, then reinstall the app to get it working properly, an essential condition for scheduling my ride to the airport. I also was able to figure out how to set alarms on my phone since I had several early morning calls.
On the way back from California, I stopped in Denver to see Joe and his family for several days. I had two tech items requiring assistance. Joe’s son Erik was the perfect resource for the jobs. He walked me through the step-by-step procedure for how to copy and move each of my posted LinkedIn blogs to my website; I documented the steps. I also had a final client invoice I had been unable to submit for six months because I couldn’t figure out their system. Together, we got it done and I will get paid next month. Woo hoo!
All in all, perhaps this seems like mundane, minor stuff. At one level, it does to me too.
At another level, however, I am getting traction on aspects of my life I have only survived and tolerated. I am creating greater workability and efficacy for myself. The only cost is reaching out and asking for help. My job is to continue to ask, without losing my courage or self-esteem. Others, if they accept, get to share their gifts of expertise with me, elevating my functionality and gaining my thanks and appreciation.
While my story seems trivial, the principle seems enormous. Where are there important areas of life that we are putting up with, tolerating without sufficient competence or satisfaction? What are we doing about them? What is the story (that we tell ourselves) that keeps us from taking effective action? What’s possible when we are able to get out of our own way, align with our intentions and aspirations, and choose to act? So much of what we contend with are self-imposed constraints. Can we grow, even transform, ourselves?
Please comment and share your perspectives. Who knows what opportunities might emerge in the next conversation?
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