Artificial vs. Emotional Intelligence

I love tech. I always have. I wrote my first line of code in the 80’s on a system with no hard drive. We had to save everything to a floppy disk. I upgraded a year later to a BEAST of a computer that had a massive 10MB hard drive (which I never dreamed I’d fill up), 1MB RAM and a monitor that had exactly one color... green. Oh and it cost me the equivalent of $4,500 in today’s dollars.  I was hooked.

That tech was roughly 100,000 times LESS powerful than the phone you’re reading this on. A lot has changed in the past couple of decades and I’ve been fortunate to be in the thick of it that whole time.  

And today, in 2018… tech advancement is going even faster… and I love it. I’ve always been an early adopter of everything it seems. Sometimes to great success. Sometimes to massive and embarrassing failure. I’m a believer, I’m a buyer, but mostly I’m a nerd. 

All that said, there is something shifting in the word right now, that I just don’t buy. And I probably never will. 

See... I’ve been starting and running businesses now for more 3 decades. But every good deal I’ve ever done, has been between me and another human... eyeball to eyeball, face to face, and usually over food or on the golf course.  The best sale I ever made was on one knee, ring in hand, eyes full of tears, to the women who said "yes" to the most important question I've ever asked. (I'd been trial closing her for MONTHS before that however... but I was still moved)

And I get it, the world is much, much smaller now. And a whole lot faster. People don’t have time for this old school connection crap. What we call a “connection” now, is the equivalent of finding out me and another person both had a phone (land line) in 1990. 

Still... it’s a better world.  In less than 3 minutes, I can dial up prototypes of the new underwear I want to create for dudes with a dad bod where the top won't roll over and remind me I haven't seen my abs in a bit. I can source it myself from China and never even leave my office. That’s cool.  I can even 3D print my own prototype of this hip emoji clip I want to make that covers the camera on my Mac so Zuckerburg can’t see me pick my nose. Welcome to the future.

But when it comes to real connection, especially in my business, I still tend to put technology aside. 

I know, I’m admittedly old school in many things. My kids roll their eyes at me daily... but I truly believe that in big deals, big changes, and important moves... it would serve us to slow down a bit... pause.. talk.. and truly connect. In personal and professional relationships, technology might have brought us into it, but real, meaningful connections will keep us there. 

The recruiting, talent staffing and sourcing world can adopt AI all it wants. You can video your potential candidates answering pre defined questions if you want. Cool. All that tech can certainly help a company weed through the massive amount of resume's they get on a daily basis.

But for me, I’m going to look at your face across a somewhat healthy lunch, and find out who you are, and what drives you, and hopefully what scares you. I want to know what your dreams are... especially the ones you fear have passed you by. And then, if I have anything to say about it.. we’re going to have an actual connection, and hopefully a real friendship.

In that process, yes... our tech will play a role.  Maybe instead of lunch, I’ll be talking to you from my cell phone that is incomprehensibly cooler than my first “Brick Phone”, and on a WiFi connected car that might even be driving itself. But I can promise you this... when you're talking... I’ll be listening. It will be two humans having a legitimate connection. And at the end of that conversation.. if you feel that my side had any intelligence whatsoever... at least you’ll know it wasn’t artificial. And hopefully we’ll both be better for it. Whether we do a deal or not. 

Nothing, in this world, should ever replace genuine and thoughtful human emotional connection. If it does, we are missing out. Adopt all the tech you want. But don’t hide behind it. Life is relationship... period. And anything that pulls us out of that, significantly detracts from the quality of our days and nights.

Hiring managers.. connect with your candidates. They are your customers! They are more than the paper you see them on. Candidates, connect with everyone... you don’t know how or where your biggest and best dream will come to fruition. 

It’s YOU we want to see. Unfiltered please.