Everything Old is New Again

This Smith Corona manual typewriter is a sentimental piece of my history.  The best gift ever at the time I received it.  Reams of paper were consumed and miles of words were written.  My typing skills were honed here.  Let’s not forget the White Out and Korrecto-type consumption either.

In our current world of keyboard options, I have been forever grateful to have my typing skills.  My fingers fly faster than many.  The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.  asdfjkl;  Thanks to my computer savvy husband who watched in mild horror as I worked with green ledger paper, pencil and calculator to calculate orders, I began using our home Apple computer and Lotus in 1985.  Got my first laptop in 1992 for Mother’s Day along with a portable printer.  (Everything needed to be on paper.)  As time has gone on, my keyboard proficiency has continued to serve me well as I embrace every possible efficiency which new technology continues to provide.  Change has not caused me to lose skills, it has allowed me to improve and add to them.

Now expand that thinking to business acumen.  Everything learned over time has been continually refined and expanded to allow for more efficient decision making and a humility borne of an understanding that simply because an approach didn’t work once upon a time, it shouldn’t be ruled out in a new environment.  No two people approach things in exactly the same way, but clear direction towards a common goal will lead to the best results.

• What about those physical stores emerging from the world of ecommerce only businesses?  Are they all warehouses for inventory?  No.  Some do double duty, but not all.  Do they allow a consumer to get a comfort level with physical product before investing?   Yes.  A purchase is more likely to “stick”.
• Direct mail pieces from Wayfair? Catalogs from Bonobos?  Who would have thought.
• The real story is that people want to shop where and when they choose depending on the product, their time and their need to get familiar with products.

All of this goes back to the simple truth that as long as we continue to push for better answers, we will build on instinct and experience using data to confirm and expand on opportunities.   Nothing and no one is old as long as we continue to challenge assumptions and apply new learnings.