Transforming Your Connections

The American television broadcaster Hugh Downs once said, "to say my fate is not tied to your fate is like saying, 'your end of the boat is sinking." When it comes to relationships and further connections to other people, each of us have an impact on what happens to others and to each of us.

As I walk around talking to people, sitting in customer meetings and interacting with the nearly 15,000 folks here @EMCWorld, it becomes very apparent that we are all in this together. I will say that we do have a certain amount of control individually over our own lives. But every event, every connection, all have the potential of changing us in sometimes slight and other times huge ways.

All of this occurs due to the connections and impact of others in our life. It is through these connections to so many people in this world and events that transform us. These connections can strengthen the knots in the fish net of your life. Without the right attitude towards them, they can also tear at those very same knots.

This fish net has knots that are close to you and would be your family and friend connections. As you move out through the web of knots, there are people you work with, those you interact with at the grocery store, so on and so forth. There are many people that are in attendance here @EMCWorld that we are connected to in large and small ways. And each of these people connect in ways that are as yet unknown to you.

All of us develop these connections through out life. Those connections transform us. Those connections allow us to impact others. Make those connections strong ones and good ones. A poorly tended net becomes weak and ineffective. But a strong and well tended net results in a great life.

Enjoy how your life impacts others. Enjoy what it does in your life. As you cast your net out, you will find how amazing it can be. Cast your net far and wide my friends....and stay inspired.

EMCWorld - Its The People

"Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them." -Steve Jobs

I will be changing it up a little bit this week as I write from Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the week of EMC World in which 13,000 technology professionals come together to experience, learn and share in the world of data, cloud technology and so much more. If you combine them with the nearly 2000 EMC people working the show, you can start to see it is a pretty large gathering.

If you want to read regular updates, check out the event via Twitter by following @EMCWorld and other sites that offer updates and live feeds from the event.

With so much technology on display, I thought it important to reflect upon the human side of it. Technology in the form of computers, data storage systems, software, smart devices, etc., all have and continue to transform our lives. No longer do we require large file cabinets to store thousand if not millions of hardcopy pages. No longer do we require large paper road atlas maps to get around. No longer do we require a longer phone cord to talk on the phone further away from the kitchen wall. I could go on and on and on with the advances that technology provides us.

In fact I would venture to say that technology and the advances are really kind of boring. We know that data is growing by a factor of 100x every ten years. We know that CPU speeds are getting faster every year. We know that disk drive technology is transforming itself as seen by the adoption of flash drive technology. So it is becoming less exciting to see the new technology and more exciting to see what people are doing with that technology.

Artistic Data

I wrote about this in a recent article titled Artistic Data @EMCWorld in which the excitement now comes from the blending of this technology with human innovation. You can tell from the quote I chose for today that I really believe the transformation is beginning to happen.

If you read the article above, you will further understand what I mean. But the transformation that am talking about is similar to how cars transformed everything we did. The car opened up first as a means to move from one place to another but the horse and cart still moved goods from one place to another. The car changed into trucks and became faster, more reliable. The car expanded our reach, no longer confining us to a radius of 15 or 20 miles in one day by horse. People could now travel to Yosemite, or California, relatives no longer lived down the street or in the next county. The world became a little smaller, more accessible.

Technology has done the same thing. We no longer need a phone on the kitchen wall. We can be driving down the road talking to someone. We can take a picture of the great ball of twine in Kansas and send it to friends back in Atlanta. Also, think about how many people now work from home. No longer do we need to sit in an office, in a cubicle in order to work and accomplish our job tasks.

So much technology, it is almost boring at times. What isn't boring though are the cool uses for those technologies that PEOPLE are coming up with. And I meant that to be in capital letters. How are PEOPLE going to start blending it all into something beautiful, functional and of course, useful.

So when we start talking about all of that data, of which EMC will be in the middle of it all, we must not forget that it is the PEOPLE that will do wonderful things with it. PEOPLE will be the reason for all of the advances, of all the great things that will be done.

Enjoy the week folks and let's do something cool and wonderful for all of us.

And above all, stay inspired my friends.

Stand Strong

Stand strong through your hard times and know you can change your circumstances. Stay believing in your visions and dreams when others try to destroy that belief. Embrace all that you are.

Next week I'll be posting from @EMCWorld in Las Vegas. Storage just keeps growing and growing as the data explosion continues. I'm going to be writing about the people and the great stories that 13,000 people generate. So Viva Las Vegas and stay inspired my friends. Have a great weekend.

Friends For Life

“If you have good friends, no matter how much life is sucking, they can make you laugh.” ― P.C. Cast

Through our lives we need family and friends to be a part of our lives. For the comfort and support they bring. The advice and encouragement is something we can not get by ourselves. The community of relationships is what makes our lives better. This is a spoke on your 'wheel of life', to have the social and family strength to move through life.

The painting above is called "Luncheon of the Boating Party" by Renoir. I love the painting for its simple view of people gathering. There are formal and non-formal interactions going on. A sense of care and ease seems to exist among those gathered. Very much like a picnic you have attended or a gathering of friends for a game of cards, friendship makes the world a better place.

Take the time to meet with others and envelope yourself in the warmth of friendship. Your days will be better, your spirits will be lifted, your life will be renewed.

Stay inspired my friends.