I’ve spent a lot of time in my career, talking people through fixing technology that I can’t see.<\/p>\n
I’ve had to work with people all over America and in other countries too. China, Japan, South Africa, Dubai.<\/p>\n
I had to get all the stuff working together at the same exactly time. I was the one that had to answer the questions of WHY it didn’t do what we needed it to do so that it would all sync and connect.<\/p>\n
How was *I* supposed to know what was wrong in all those corners of the world?<\/p>\n
I had to know the territory.<\/p>\n
Which is to say, I had an inventory of all the equipment in each of those places. And I knew what each of them were supposed to look like, which cables were plugged into what and what color lights were supposed to blink in what sequence.<\/p>\n
I had to know that for each and every single system in all the different countries. And I did. And we could make the stuff work.<\/p>\n
Because I knew exactly what each person was experiencing in their room across the world when I talked to them on the phone and asked about the colors of the blinking lights.<\/p>\n
My husband had a reason to drive across the country last week–from long island back to California. It was a straight shot, meant to cover distance as fast as possible.<\/p>\n
He made one stop. As a person interested in American history, he wanted to see the battleground for Shiloh.<\/p>\n
“The battle was chaos. Now that I’ve seen the battlefield, I can understand why.”<\/p>\n
It wasn’t meant to happen there. The two armies met on accident.<\/p>\n
No one would have chosen that spot for a battle. But then it happened anyway.<\/p>\n
Both generals did know the territory and wanted nothing to do with it.<\/p>\n
When Chris told me about walking the battleground, and how there was nothing distinct–how there were no landmarks and it was very disorienting<\/p>\n
When he said that seeing what it was like there, he could understand the histories so much better<\/p>\n
I remembered my talks with people from other cities and their technology. How they had to completely trust me about the cables and the lights<\/p>\n
And how I had to learn to trust them. How when then described the lights’ colors and what was happening in their room, as crazy as it sounded to me<\/p>\n
I had to believe them.<\/p>\n
I learned that they were the ones who could see and hear, and I had to learn to trust them as if they were my eyes.<\/p>\n
If we worked together, we could always find the answer to get synched.<\/p>\n
But if I didn’t believe them, we would waste a lot of time. I had to know their territory through their eyes and their voices.<\/p>\n
Which is not the same as walking the ground myself. And seeing how the land lies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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I’ve spent a lot of time in my career, talking people through fixing technology that I can’t see. I’ve had to work with people all over America and in other countries too. China, Japan, South Africa, Dubai. I had to … Continue reading