Don't Take Yourself For Granted

When I was a young newlywed I drove an old Gremlin. Those of you old enough to remember the Gremlin may be laughing. But I wasn't laughing, because at least it was paid for. I actually have a lot of good memories of that car, which I will always associate with the early days of my time with my wife Shahinool.

But then the time came when I was doing better financially and I was able to trade up. I purchased a newer car with better features, including automatic remote door locks.

On one of our first trips in the new car, I remember hitting the remote button to pop the locks and opening my door to get inside. Shahinool stood by the curb, looking at me.

"Go ahead," I said. "It's open." I waved the remote to show her. She continued to stand there. Finally I got the message. I walked around and opened the door for her on her side, just as I always did with the Gremlin.

When we were inside, she said to me: "I like the new car, but I am letting you know now: I will never let you take us for granted." She wasn't kidding, either. This is the woman after all who told me with a sly smile, that I would have to ask her to marry me again each year on our anniversary. It was her way of reminding me that I was going to have to continue to romance her. Automatic door locks may not seem like a big deal but she recognized that every courtesy we bypass in the name of efficiency takes a little bit away from the human connections we need.

It's the same in your practice. I am a big advocate of a lot of the technology that is available to dentists today – intra-oral cameras, digital radiography and CEREC – because they can amplify what you do in exciting ways. But they can never become shortcuts to understanding or substitutes for the human touch. No matter how sophisticated the technology becomes, it will always come back to you and how you create value. You can never take yourself for granted.