Yes, But If You Hold His Nose Under He’ll Drink Eventually
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
My mother owned a CPA firm back in the 1990s. I was working for Microsoft at the time writing courseware on Microsoft Exchange.
My mother’s office didn’t have an email system.
Mom, why don’t you let me install Exchange. It won’t cost you anything and it will help your employees be more productive.
We don’t need an email system. We have plenty of those red “While You Were Out” message pads.
You have to understand, my mother’s office was actually very technically advanced. They had a network and a central repository for client tax returns at a time when many offices were still working exclusively with paper. But, she just didn’t see the need for an electronic email system.
I eventually got her to use it, but only by winning a bet.
My office recently rolled out a new collaboration product from Adobe. Our network is very secure. Our firewalls deny all requests unless we have specifically whitelisted an IP address. Getting this product in was an involved process.
First we had to get our security team to sign off on it. Then we had to get the client’s security team to sign off on it. Then, we had to open ports in the firewall. And because our agents cannot type web addresses, we had to hard code the location into the start menu.
The tool lets managers and agents share a screen and listen to past calls for coaching purposes. We used to do this by having the manager walk to the agent’s desk.
COVID
Now, the manager and the agent might be in different cities. Technically, they could even be in different states.
Anyway, after several false starts we finally got the product installed, tested and configured. But, the trouble was getting the managers to trust it. They actually were required to use it, but like the horse coming to the water trough, they were hesitant.
That was three weeks ago. Today I was talking with one of the senior managers,
How is the Adobe product working?
The managers absolutely love it. It took them a little to figure it out, but at this point, they can’t imagine life without it.
Often that’s how new technically works. Well, and old technology as well. Remember Mom’s accounting firm?
Tell you what, Mom. Let me install it and I guarantee that two weeks from now, they will threaten to quit if you say you are going to take it out.
Okay.
It wasn’t even two weeks.
Oh, and in case you are wondering, NO, I did not just compare my mother to a horse. And I can’t believe you would even think such a thing!
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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