It does matter, doesn’t it?

Yesterday attended iX Conference 2004, organised by the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF), addresses the on-going issues of the relevance of technology to business enterprises.

Very good conference. Knowledge transfer, people networking and of course, alot of food! There is a speaker by the name of Nicholas Carr, who is an independent business writer, has held top editorial positions at Harvard Business Review and was named one of the “ten people to watch in 2004” by American Airlines’ American Way magazine. His celebrated 2003 article ‘IT Doesn’t Matter’, published in the Harvard Business Review, argued that IT’s strategic value has diminished steadily as its presence and power have grown.

Among his debates and arguments, he mentioned something that captured by attention. “To a country that have alot of IT initiatives, IT doesn’t really matter to them. To a family that its electricity constantly run without fail, electricity doesn’t matter to them and to those who always have water when they turn on the tap, water doesn’t seems to matter.”

Thoughts filled my mind when I heard that. For something that always there for us, we tends not to pay too much attention. It could be light, water, electricity or power supply. And it could be family, relatives and even friends. When all these are always there and didn’t change much, we tends to think that they doesn’t really matter to us. “One day I will call them”, “Some day we should catch up”. Maybe perhaps, that some day will not come..

But guilt filled our soul when one fine day they disappeared away from us. Depression raises when we beat ourselves wondering why we didn’t spend enough time with them. I think a better word to describe is “taking things for granted”.

How so many people are guilty of that, consciously or subconsciously, directly or indirectly. We take for granted for too many things, so much so that we don’t even think that we are taking that for granted.

Look around us, what are the things that we have that we seldom think or talk about? Who are the people that are around us that we seldom talk to? Are they important to you? If they are not around you now, what will happen to you?

Again, so much to do, so little time? But will you even do it if you have alot of time?

I WANT TO COMPLAIN!

We hear this almost everyday, come out from our friends, our colleagues and even ourselves!

Business units work hard to satisfy complaints, raise their service level to prevent complaints and even change their value chain due to certain big complaints. Why do people like to complain so much?

I reckon it is a chain reaction. The more you complain, the more likely you will get something in return, a complimentary meal, a free voucher to hotel stay, or even a free pair of air tickets! So in the end, what do we do? We COMPLAIN SOMEMORE! Wow, isn’t this great? So here we are guys, the secret recipe is…

1 x THICK SKIN
1 x ANGRY FACE
1 x BIG MOUTH

And all these must custarded with many teaspoons of nasty language and demanding tone!

We know it all, don’t we? Suddenly reminded of a commercial ads for GUINNESS BEER. “Someone is going to get that free meal, get that free voucher, get that free movie tickets, get that free air tickets, somebody is going to do it, why not you?”

So are we to blame? If lucky draws are so popular, then maybe there is a reason why so many people are complaining. To try their luck and hope to “win” some prizes!

So are organisations promoting complaints or is there really something wrong with the customers? I will quote that “Incredible Tales” host always said, “You decide.”

Now, I’m sure somebody is going to come to me and said, “No, it is all about principles, it is not the money”. Of course! I’m sure, because after giving them one free complimentary stay to the 6-star hotel, suddenly all principles are washed down the drain despite of the countless continuous calls about an unclean hotel towel.

Well, enough said, I hope business people get the big hint here. Oh gosh! My laptop battery is going flat so fast! Hmmm, time to get a free brand new battery from the manufacturer. See you next time!