Reaching out. What does that look like? I’ve been working hard to improve communications in my organization for some time, and it’s an interesting, tenuous journey–all rather 2 steps forward, 1 step back for the most part.

This morning I had an email from someone in my organization asking if an email she had just received was a “scam”. Oddly enough, it was legit, but because I had sent out information recently on “Phishing”, she was hyper aware of anything that seemed out of the ordinary.

It made me think of “things that get my attention”. Way back, when I first started to use email, I remember the thrill of a new message coming in. (Of course this would have been preceded by the WHirrrRRrrrr-squeeeeEEEeaaaawk-br br br of the modem connecting… an almost visceral experience for me, akin to jet engines firing up at the start of a journey).

When does jaded overtake excitement? How many emails from deposed Nigerian princes can you receive before you lose interest in any email at all? One of the hardest battles we fight is to get our colleagues to read our messages, but they can’t all be marked “URGENT!!!”. The e-adrenylen will stop coursing through our veins very quickly.

But what about the messages that do bring back that feeling of getting a “friendly” letter or card in the mail? Something you have been waiting for… or better, something you didn’t even know was coming.

Even as simple as “Hey, I heard a song/saw a picture/had a meal that reminded me of you, and I wanted to say hello”.

I’d still take an eternity of phish-mails, advertisements and spam of all sorts if it meant that, even once in awhile, I also got a message that made my heart skip a beat or brought a smile to my lips. Even if it was just about lamb chops.