M’s the word: Ride the excitement
How I learned to love the iPad
By on Jan 20, 2012I think I have told you about my world tour. Anyway, one highlight was a Brazilian dinner in Sao Paulo. Gathered among a group of physicians, we were lucky enough to have a senior manager there, who had taken the time to meet the specialists. It seems like a simple thing, but it is amazing how seldom the top of the shop actually gets to meet the specialists who see the patients and prescribe the drugs we sell. So top marks here.
During the evening, after we had discussed the therapeutic area, this senior manager opened up an iPad and made some notes. Now, I am a real Luddite. I took four years longer than any of my colleagues to get a Blackberry. I have no desire for an iPhone, and I do not watch television in funny glasses. But here I was, watching a man about my own age, stroking the screen of this device, caressing it really, and I had gadget envy.
I blustered, denied, joked about the utility, but I envied. My challenge: I could not think of a business purpose for it. I have watched a dozen manias ravage the sales and marketing function, and I always ask the same question: How is this going to improve the business? I am sure it will be fun, but I wonder how many of the representatives will actually sell more as a result of having this power-hungry sliver of shiny plastic.
And then, with the gentle smile of a wise counsel, he devastated me. Never again will his group produce paper materials for the sales force. At a stroke, he has removed the print cost, the waste, and even the damage to the environment that comes from paper production. I do not need to see anything more. And, of course, with the fickle Medical and Regulatory environment in which we work, I no longer have to throw away thousands of pieces of work when a reference changes or a comment becomes out of date or no longer approvable.
There are no garages piled high with out of date materials, which rot in the damp until the owner moves house and discards them in plastic bags, not sure whether there is a law against dumping detail materials that might get picked up by humans. Instead, I can make the change overnight, and 5,000 representatives wake up with fresh material, as if by magic.
Which, of course, sets me thinking... Simply replacing the written word with PDF versions would not represent innovation. So we need to use this spike of awakening to push for something higher, more exhilarating, something that stretches the boundaries, threatens composure. I guess there is a lesson here, that when something shakes you out of complacency, do not settle back in the same position. Ride the excitement, however slight it might be. Take advantage of whatever cuts you free to move further than expected.
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