HACKING IT: NETWORKING WITH A TWIST

Being a bit of a technophobe, I was both amazed and delighted yesterday, when my friend and mentor Vanessa said "I am so pleased to see how you have embraced your broadband - I was a little worried when you told me that you had gone that route."

Man, that made me feel all good and fuzzy inside, you see it made me realize just how much I have grown in the year since she last saw me. You see, I have always been a bit reticent around my computer, treating it a little like a demi-god because, well . . . because I don't understand the blessed thing! Oh, don't get me wrong, I know how to turn it on, I know how to use as much of 'office' as I need to do the things that I want to do and I know how to use the internet. But that's about all!

Well the truth of the matter, it's not all - look at me now, I am blogging on a daily basis - both here and on my business blog (www.businessreality.blogspot.com), I have an RSS feed from my favourite site Business Warriors (www.businesswarriors.co.za). I speak, via SKYPE to my brother in Australia, my friend in the USA and various friends and colleagues here in South Africa. Hell, I even see them on my screen when I talk to them! Then of course there is the fun side of things, I have an i-pod (50th birthday present from my brother) and I am slowly but surely loading all my CD's onto it (currently around the 2400 mark) and when it the office I plug my i-pod into it's landing dock and listen to my favorite music all day. Because of the music and the fact that my i-pod has more capacity than my laptop, I now have an external hard drive and because of all my new toys I have a gadget that is like an electrical bank of spare plugs (I forget what it's called and quite frankly who cares - as long as it does the job!).

So am I any more or less of a technophobe than I was before - I don't know - probably! The fact of the matter is that I don't have to be an IT specialist to enjoy all that technology throws my way - that's why I am not in IT, it's not my thing! It's not my passion! I don't get as excited about it for the same reason that many people don't get excited about what I do! What excites me though, is when I learn how to do something new, or more to the point when I manage to do something by myself! Now that is an accomplishment!

I am still nervous about downloading stuff off the internet and will still check with my IT guru to ensure that it's safe to do so. If a message pops up that I have not encountered before or if I am unsure of anything, he also gets a call. You see I am very aware of the pitfalls of doing the wrong thing - wiping everyong off, crashing the hard drive and all those other things.

So yes, I probably as still a technophobe, but one with a bit of a twist!

Hacking IT: Networking with a twist
Ronnie Apteker 06 October 2006 at 07h00

One of the great things I love about the Internet is virtual networking. You know, the ability to make contact with people you never really meet in person. Email can be such a brilliant tool, if used appropriately. It can also be quite destructive if emotional elements creep in. Never have a fight via email. Never curse or rant or argue using email. It will only cause you further headaches. Trust me on this.

Email allows you to share things. Information, news, ideas, events, diagrams, pictures, sounds, songs, and so much more. And it allows you to entertain. Yes, emails can be pretty funny, especially if you send out jokes.

While I sometimes get overwhelmed with the amount of email I can receive in a day, and while sometimes I wish some of the jokes I get weren't so lame, I typically get delighted when a fresh funny story arrives in my inbox. I love nothing more than to pass it to those who I know will get a boost from it. Yes, sharing a good joke is a great thing - it is one of those things that makes life special.

Storytelling is a fundamental part of all good leadership. The ability to connect with people, to inspire them, to capture their imaginations, and to provoke them, are all necessary to facilitate growth.

Everyone likes a compelling story, and we all love a good joke. So, in an effort to spread the love, and with the aim to inspire anyone who is reading this, here is a cool anecdote that I have cherished over the years. Please indulge me - I have been doing some soul searching of late and humour is one of the best ways to appreciate the journey.

So, here is a colourful corporate lesson, with a funny twist, that an inspired friend of mine sent me many years ago.

Lesson: A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. After a few seconds of arguing over who should go and answer the doorbell, the wife gives up, quickly wraps herself up in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbour. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you 800 bucks to drop that towel that you have on." After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her 800 bucks and leaves. Confused, but excited about her good fortune, the woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.

When she gets back to the bathroom, her husband asks from the shower "Who was that?" "It was Bob the next door neighbour," she replies. "Great," the husband says, "did he say anything about the 800 bucks he owes me?"

Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk in time with your stakeholders, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

If you have a good joke or an inspired story then please send it my way. And, if it strikes a chord with me, I will pass it on to the next person. Yes, this is the power of virtual networking. You got to love this technology!

Ronnie Apteker is one of the founders of Internet Solutions, the country's largest corporate Internet service provider. He is also a movie producer, an author of two books and sometimes a stand up comedian.