Mom was Right

I had a great mom. She taught me things that are with me every day, like: If you have to ask the question, you already know the answer. Examples of this would be things like “Is it too late to call?” Well, if you have to ask, then yes, it is too late to call. Or, “Should I say this or would it be rude/unhelpful/tactless/etc.?” Well, if you have to ask, then no, don’t say it. Or, “Am I wearing too much blue eye shadow?” (I hit my early make-up years in the ‘80s when this was a real question.) Alas, yes, too much blue eye shadow.

Another thing she taught me is that people don’t think about us nearly as much as we think they do. This came to mind recently when I ran into a friend and former colleague who sells software for one of the large vendors. We’ll call him Bob (because that’s his name.)  He had heard about Wisegate and his initial comment to me was, “Man, our customers will be in there bashing us all the time.”

He couldn’t be more wrong.

My mom was right; people don’t think about us nearly as much as we think they do. I’ve seen that when smart, senior technologists get together on Wisegate, they are not out to bash vendors. Often, they are not talking about vendors at all (most of the time, in fact, they are discussing other things.) They learn from each other, share their experience and expertise, and get great insight from true peers.

The reality is that when people are able to get information from those they trust, it can enable them to move faster on complex decisions. To ask the right questions. And to ensure smoother projects. No bashing required.