Talking over Texting 

We had a creative call scheduled with a big automotive client based on the east coast. I was in San Francisco scheduled to join Condoleezza Rice on stage mid-morning, so the call was early morning. 

While at the hotel gym, my team texted that our client meeting canceled. Hallelujah! 45 minutes were given back to me. 

The team began texting me about any direction we potentially lacked from the client as a result of not having the call. I read these while exercising on a spin-bicycle. Should we send a note to the client? What should the note say? Our team is young, amazing, and prefers texting over talking, which is effective for some items but not great when a phone call would solve the issue quicker or an email would be a better tool. I looked at my watch and realized we’d been texting back and forth for 50 minutes. It would’ve been more efficient to have had the actual meeting!

Training my mouth and sometimes my thumbs to respond “no” was easier said than done. Every question doesn’t warrant an immediate answer—or any answer for that matter. I need to pause and ask myself, “Does this require a response?” Often the answer is no. Or, if it does require a response, I’ll now type: If my response requires more clarity, please give me a call. 

Eureka moment: Be quick to listen, slow to speak. 

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