Extensive, Exhaustive Investigation Finds No Silver Bullet

Forever and ever, companies, organizations and individuals have searched for and spent vast sums of time and money pursuing the "Silver Bullet", to no avail! No one has ever found the Silver Bullet because it does not exist.

The silver bullet represents the path that is not there and you would think that fact alone would be enough to call the search off. Forget about it!

In the midst of the fight to survive or perhaps thrive, there is almost always someone looking frantically for the solution that requires much less effort and will mystically solve all of the issues now and in the future.

They spend valuable time and resources searching for this elusive 'Big-Foot" solution when they should be looking at their own feet to see which direction they are headed and at what speed.

Here is an example:

The newspaper business is tirelessly searching for a simple solution to an ever increasingly complicated problem. The newspaper business at many levels, especially in the community-newspaper-sector is doing quiet well. But that does not stop some of the little guys from following the lemming-big-guys who are headed for the cliff. The big guys chase when they should embrace.

The digital disruptions to this storied industry are real and really growing, but these digital products can't and will not do what the community newspapers do best. The community newspapers, deliver; trust, reach, effectiveness, efficiencies and consistently in their markets. These markets are filled with invested readers and locally owned businesses.  Readers who are consumers and businesses who are bombarded with digital offerings. These businesses are searching for solutions, not silver bullets. So leave your silver bullet solution in the closet.

Logic holds that there are no silver bullets and any resources dedicated to this fruitless endeavor could and should be directed elsewhere. How do you do that? When the discussion you are having about your business takes a turn that makes no sense, you need to say something and suggest that the company gets back to doing what works.

Make changes when changes make sense. Searching for the silver bullet makes no sense, so quit making no sense.

Make The Tag

Baseball is still baseball.

Baseball is considered by many to be a game of offense but it is not. Baseball is a game of defense. All a team has to do to win a baseball game is keep their opponent from scoring more runs than they do. Baseball is still a game where 9 players try their best to get one player at a time, out. Not much technologically deep about that.

Technology has changed the game of baseball for the players and the fans. Technology has introduced a more lively bat to the baseball players that aren't getting paid millions to get 3 hits out of 10 home plate appearances. The gloves have seen vast improvements of material and design. The ball is different. The helmets are more protective including that attachment that reaches around the jaw of the batter. The catchers mask now resembles the helmets of Gladiator's providing much more protection than the older versions. The umpire now has a protective device that hangs down from their chin area covering the vulnerable throat from getting smacked by a four ball or errant pitch.

All of these technological improvements have made impacts on the game of baseball but it is still a game where 9 players take the field. Technology has not changed that number. It still takes 9.

Your life has been changed by technology and if not, you probably live under a big rock. However, some of the aspects of your professional and personal endeavors are not impacted by technology. People are still people and the human side of the relationship is what is going to make your efforts make a difference.

Technology can help your efficiencies and effectiveness but technology cannot meaningfully communicate with those people you deal with.  Because you must have a goal of making a positive impact, you still have to do the fundamental human things! The power of looking into the eyes of another when they share their experiences and their "why's" can never be replaced. The confidence and emotion from a firm hand-shake or appropriate hug is why a human touch is so vastly important.

To put an offensive player out when they are running the bases will often require a tag with the baseball that is in the defensive players possession. That human contribution is not anything that technology can replace. Make the human tag and don't fall into the routine of letting technology attempt to replace that which it cannot. Want to separate your self from the competition? Make the tag!