Phoebe and Mac and I-Contact?

So... who are Phoebe and Mac you may ask and what do I mean by "I-Contact"?

Phoebe & Mac are both students getting ready to head back to school after working as interns for the "Butcher Block Exchange Social Media Summer Project" and at the age of 18 they have taught me some powerful lessons about myself and how I can and should redefine my personal definition of "I-Contact" in order to stay current in the world I live in and work in today.

Let me explain... In 2007 I wrote the article below that was published in the Kansas City Star business section titled "How to Make I-Contact".

Making Business Personal: How to Make I-Contact

By Mary Bichelmeyer Lucas

Current Day: Companies continue to “drill down” and “defrag” to find business solutions. This is an era where we talk “offline” and dine “al desko” when pressed for time at work. Here’s another overly used, contemporary phrase to sum it all up: Get real already.

1946: The year John Bichelmeyer opened the doors to his Kansas City, KS meat market and began showing the business world how to do things the right way. He never wrote a best seller or earned his MBA, but for the next six decades, this butcher served as a timeless example of what works – and what doesn’t – in business.

His common sense philosophies remain a blueprint for success even in today’s more complex business economy. Though he’s gone now, this man’s simple approach and quietly elegant advice resonates across all segments of industry.

Let’s take stock of what’s really important in business, something John Bichelmeyer understood intuitively:

People do business with people. People do not do business with PCs, phone systems, or email.

Companies are not “things.” Companies are people working toward a shared goal. That my friends makes business very, very personal.

Yet somehow business forgets that critical point when it insists on “streamlining” or “seeking efficiencies” in acquiring more workplace techno-gizmos. Business intentionally places obstacles in the way of engaging one-on-one with other people – with each other in the workplace, and with their next customer! Why?

American business has become a culture of workers hiding behind computer desks and automated telecom attendants. Even the sales function, typified by one-on-one buyer and seller interaction, has morphed the process into the push of a keypad. Cars, books, vacations – you name it. Just click here and the item is added to your computerized shopping cart for checkout.

People frequently speak of “the good old days.” What was so different back then? Chances are, the good old days equates to specific interactions with people. When a handshake was as good as a signed contract. When the milkman came to the back door on Thursdays. When the school bus driver knew your name and that you lived in the blue house second from the corner. When your dad’s boss came home for dinner and your mom pulled out the “good” dishes. When you “charged” something at the local butcher shop, and John Bichelmeyer knew you’d be in to pay the bill at the end of the month.

Where did those frequent human “touch points” go? Why did we stop interacting with each other? Who will lead the parade in the other direction?

Business can -- and should. Here’s how:

Companies must learn to re-engage with people, both their own internal human resources and their external customers. Organizations must learn to balance human processes with technology tools in order to fill the widening chasm of depersonalization. Good old common sense must stand alongside marketplace efficiency tools to create opportunities and resolve problems.

Seldom does a computer report solve an operations problem with quite the sensitivity of a live person. Conversations with a desktop virtual assistant are almost always one-sided. And rarely does a laptop smile and say thank you when wrapping up a good day’s work.

What’s missing, of course, is the human connection. People energy.

John Bichelmeyer, the Kansas City, KS butcher, understood this all along, which is why his butcher shop thrived. Third generation customers still shop there today because he placed high value in other people. His trade was meat cutting, but his real gift was his people skills.

True company assets are human beings. Let’s bring “I-contact” back to the workplace.

 

Note to self: "I need to "Get real already".

Although I still stand firm in my belief that "human connection" and can never be completely replaced by social networking I now realize that there IS a lot of "people energy" created virtually and that the parade IS being lead in a direction where there IS great value and that if I don't join in this parade it may just pass me by!

This summer thanks to Phoebe & Mac I learned a thing or two that helped me combine the old world and the new and answer my own questions... "Where did those frequent human 'touch points' go? Why did we stop interacting with each other? Who will lead the parade in the other direction?"

So... where did those 'touch points' go?

Well, thanks to my brilliant summer interns below are a few of the 'virtual touch points' I am now involved in all focused on showing the world that there are still plenty of people out there that believe in the power of positive messaging.

1. BLOG: The Butcher Block Exchange. This blog is meant to continue the legacy left by my Dad, John Bichelmeyer, the inspiration for Lunchmeat and Life Lessons. Check the blog often at http://thebutcherblockexchange.blogspot.com/ for inspirational and thought-provoking entries and when you do please sign up as a "Follower" on the bottom right!

2. FACEBOOK: If you are into Facebook the page for The Butcher Block Exchange, can found at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/The-Butcher-Block-Exchange/113639718682917?ref=ts A continuation of the blog on Facebook. Please click on "Like" it!

3. LINKED IN: If you are already on LinkedIn look up the Group “The Butcher Block Exchange” http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3160792 and click on “Join Group” to follow the fun!

When we kicked off this project our collective goal was to have a documented following built at each of these channels by the end of the summer interested in sharing in an exchange of positive “Food for Thought & Inspiration”.

So how did we do?

Well... at the risk of tooting my own horn I’d say that thanks to all of you reading this and most of all to Phoebe & Mac although I am not quite ready to LEAD the social media parade (still not tweeting) I have figured out some ways to virtually bring back the "I-Contact".

Cheers!

P.S. Pheebs & Mac this bit of Butcher’s Wisdom is dedicated to you... once again THANK YOU!