Observed

A debate is under way about the pluses and minuses of books versus the Internet.  There’s mounting evidence, for example, that books do a better job helping us develop critical thinking, reading and math skills.  All of these seem to suffer once a home gets hooked up to a high-speed ISP.

This news comes at a time when I’ve been thinking (again) about the virtues of the tangible…particularly in marketing and business development communications.  It made me wonder about the many, varied ways we value the ability to touch, hear, smell and see a person, place or thing — ways such as…

• The Demingesque notion of genchi genbutsu, which helped foster the rise and hegemony of Japanese and other Asian manufacturers.  It means to go and see.
• Gemba, meaning “the actual place” where value is added, truth is found, problems arise and so forth.  In other words, the factory floor…as opposed to a conference room, an e-mail or a PowerPoint presentation.
• The tactile instrument check that airplane pilots conduct, touching every gauge and dial before they taxi to the runway and hit the throttle.
• The way nurses and other health care professionals use their sense of touch to assess or treat a patient.  (Ever been to a dermatologist for a general exam?)
• How proofreading a hard copy of a document tends to overcome cognitive impenetrability, slowing us down and helping catch typos we might not notice on the screen.

So, go kick a tire.  Visit a client and demonstrate that you care.  When that’s not always practical, write them a note or pick up the phone.  The more tangible, the better.