I had a meeting with one of my Indianapolis small business computer outsourcing customers today where we talked about planning for their coming year. We discussed the mundane stuff like which computers should get replaced and how many new printers we should plan for. Then we talked about the things that constitute the reason I've been working as a computer consultant for the past 18 years: the future!

He told me about his vision for his organization and asked me, "What's happening in computer technology that will help me make this vision come true?" Just hearing the question gave me goose bumps. I dove right in, starting by pulling things out of my briefcase that he needed to see. The Amazon Kindle let me talk to him about the transition of printed material and how it is consumed. Pure Digital's Flip video camera let me talk to him about the way in which everyone is becoming a creator of content. My Sony Vaio TT which is one of the coolest laptops I've ever owned, let me talk about the constantly shrinking size of our most powerful computer technology.

With each item, we had a mini-brainstorming session about how the concept can impact his vision for his organization. We didn't decide to run out and get any of these things or competing products. We just imagined together how these ideas can one day make his vision more clear in his organization. Then we went back to work.

As I was leaving his office, another gentleman was waiting in the lobby to meet with him. He took a moment to introduce me and explained to the man that Port-to-Port Consulting had been with him since he opened and he has tried many times to replace us but none of our competitors will commit to learning enough about his business to help him use technology to create his future.

I was flattered to know how much he appreciates the way in which our IT services staff watches out for technology trends that can impact his business. I was a bit distressed to hear that he's been trying to replace me. The gentleman turned to me and said it was quite an accomplishment to have been supporting this organization since its inception. He knew exactly how demanding this CEO was of the people around him.