Using Technology to Learn Business and Politicial Issues…and Connect

I know what you’re thinking: you already use technology to connect. Through Facebook, you’re back in touch with that pretty girl who sat behind you in 9^th grade algebra, your kids have taught you how to Skype now that they’re off to college, and you know through LinkedIn that your cubicle mate from fifteen years ago is still working at the same company. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. Just because you have contact doesn’t mean you have a connection.

What I’m talking about today is utilizing the iPad to better connect to those around you, near and far. A lot of old guys like me go out and buy an iPad because it’s the latest thing, and they don’t really know how to utilize it so that it can reach their goals. Next thing they know, they’re knee deep in Candy Crush and they’re trying to figure out why they wasted the money.

I primarily use my iPad to read. I read to keep up with industry trends, news and learn the business and political issues that drive our client’s behaviors.

The apps I’m using the most are…

USA Today, CNBC, pulse and Flipboard. Here is a screen shot of my pulse configuration:

Some you may be familiar with, while others…

USA Today and CNBC are middle-of-the-road news sources that touch on all of the big things that everyone is talking about right now. I always look at this first, so that I can get an initial buffer of what’s going on in the world.

Next, I go through pulse. Pulse, a social newsreader app that was acquired by LinkedIn, is important because it summarizes the news based on different verticals. It gives me the articles that are happening and popular at the moment.

Then I look at Flipboard, which is different aggregation of news. Flipboard is an attention span version of USA Today. It’s diverse attention. While USA today gives generalized news, my Flipboard account is set up for uncovering hiding-in-plain-sight type of information.

So here’s the bottom line…

You have to have the ability to relate to people. In being knowledgeable about the world and all of the cogs that make it go around, you simplify the relating process.

I look at everything: middle-of-the-road news-big picture news, vertical news, diverse news, which includes social media, hiding in plain sight information, then I use Kindle for books and magazines. The cross section of those three things is the way I keep up with my clients and capture client intelligence.

I don’t think top leadership reads enough. Its big picture stuff-it’s all about being engaged. You don’t get a pass if you don’t have one thing or another in common with another person.