I like to think I’m pretty tech-savvy. I know some basic HTML code and I have a good grip on my devices. Do I know the nitty gritty? No. Do I care to? Not really.
Yesterday I needed to reach out to someone for an important question about my website. We don’t know each other very well, but we have a mutual friend who I trust, so by default I trust this guy. Let’s call him Ted. Ted and I had a call about a month ago concerning some issues with my site. He was professional, kind and helpful. All good traits for building trust.
Yesterday when I contacted him, he responded very quickly, which I appreciate. (It helps to put “Time-sensitive request” in your subject line because it was. Do not use that liberally though, otherwise, you’ll be Chicken Little.)
Anyway, Ted and I shot a few messages back and forth with instructions on how to change my site. Since I’m a rule follower, I didn’t want to mess anything up, so I waited. Waiting for an email back about a time-sensitive issue is not my strength. At. All.
This is where the trust part comes in.
A few things crossed my mind.
“Is he going to respond?”
“Am I being a pain?”
“How much time should I wait before making the change without waiting for his confirmation?”
I tried to focus on my work, but I found myself refreshing my webmail hoping to find his latest direction, so I could make the changes in one fell swoop. I’d give myself a deadline. “If I don’t hear back from him by 1:00, I’m going to make the changes as far as I understand them.”
I know it sounds nuts, but when it comes to an area I’m not familiar with, I want to be sure I’m doing the right thing. Plus, he was using some language I didn’t understand. So, in an effort to not be a pain, I tried to keep my questions to a minimum, but I also wanted to be sure I understood what he was saying. It’s easy for things to get lost in translation in an email.
The other part of the trust puzzle was me not trusting myself. I was fairly certain I knew what to do, but didn’t want to make any moves until I was extra sure.
I didn’t want to wait too much longer, so once I was pretty clear on the instructions, I made the changes without getting his final confirmation on something. That’s right, I took a risk. (Mind blown.)
When he responded that I was indeed correct, it felt good that, in a way, I did trust myself. Let’s hope I can remember that for next time. :)
Do you get flummoxed with tech talk? Do you hesitate when you know you have all the right information or do you throw caution to the wind? Tell me below. I’d love to hear from you!