The Times They Are a Changin'
I recently went to the famous Musso and Frank's grill here in Hollywood, CA for the Mrs. Birthday. The restaurant has just hit 100 years. Celebs such as Rudolph Valentino and Charlie Chaplin used to frequent this establishment. If you enter from the back you'll see two very old phone booths. My kids walked in and to their surprise they saw actual pay phones in the booths. Out of sheer curiosity I (as I imagine others do as well) picked up a phone to see if there was a dial tone. If there was I probably would have tried to prank call my brother with a collect call. There was no dial tone.
I proceeded into a rant on what pay phones were and how they were used. Not sure if my kids found it interesting or if they were just amusing me by listening. Then it dawned on me, I should be taking more interest in them telling me about the newest features on the latest technology versus me trying to tell them how they could have used an irrelevant device.
I see a lot of this in the business world, especially when it come to the modern workplace. We're still trying to fit into a tight little mold of days past that doesn't really serve modern day business. Why 8 hours? Why a lunch break? Why sit at a desk when you can stand? Why a desk at all? Why such a thing as showing up late or early? Why, why, why?
Technology, social media, the internet are all here to stay. Self driving cars are right around the corner. Robots, voice activated devices, nano technology, automated everything... It's all here. If ever there was a time to innovate your business, it's now.