Obviously, the design and construction industry is changing rapidly as technology advances and and computing capacity increases. The drafting table evolved to CAD and now BIM; the laptop is an essential resource in the site office.
In the marketing sphere, conventional media and marketing resources have evolved with Twitter, Facebook and blogging seeming to take on increasing importance.
Some of us have no problem adapting to the new technologies. This isn?t entirely age related though I notice how young people tend to spell ?please? as plz, taking text messaging convenience to places it (at least in my opinion) should never be used. If you aren?t up-to-date on the social media evolution, should you be concerned that you will fall behind and lose your competitive edge.
I?m not so sure of that . . . if your other qualities, especially your ability to build and develop relationships with a diversity of individuals, is still in place.
Note, I am NOT suggesting you can coast on your existing relationships. This leads to one of the saddest things I?ve seen in business over the years. Say, you are a marketing rep or salesperson with a few ?close relationships? who seem to give you all the business you need, when you need it, because they trust you. But you haven?t built any depth or connections beyond these relationships. When reorganizations or restructuring (or retirements) occur, you are out in the field, alone.
However, artificially immersing yourself in the ?new technologies? will likely result in a lot of stress, much disappointment and a feeling you aren?t going anywhere, fast. Sure, for example, I can correlate some really impressive business results from this blog which I started in 2006-07. However, I don?t know if the effort would have been successful if I didn?t actually enjoy blogging. Months and months of posting with limited direct financial results would have burned me out with frustration.
Equally, I see plenty of people who don?t embrace new technologies that well but indeed have a wide and diverse capacity to build connections, communicate and maintain rapport. If you are in this situation, you will find creative ways to at least achieve the minimum technological capacity to communicate with people who prefer the newer technologies, without forcing yourself to be someone you aren?t.
