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!