Bringing Humanity Into the World of Technology
Award-Winning IT Customer Service Speaker and Author
Don addresses 600 IT professionals about IT Customer Service at the 2019 Church IT Network conference in Kansas City.
Author of 8 books for IT pros, including...
The Compassionate Geek: How Engineers, IT Pros, and Other Tech Specialists Can Master Human Relations Skills to Deliver Outstanding Customer Service
The 5 Principles of IT Customer Service Success
Cisco ASA for Accidental Administrators: An Illustrated Step-by-Step Cisco ASA Learning and Configuration Guide
The Accidental Administrator: Cisco Router Step-by-Step Configuration Guide (Understanding the Basics of Cisco Routers)
The Accidental Administrator: Linux Server Step-by-Step Configuration Guide (for IT Professionals and Accidental Administrators)
Recent Blog Posts
What is Compassion? Five Ways to Become More Compassionate
There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that living a life filled with positive emotions can have a positive physiological effect on our bodies. Like most people, I enjoy hearing stories that reinforce my pre-conceived notions about how the world is. I also recognize that anecdotes are great stories, but they’re lousy science and can often lead to poor decision-making.
Social Skills Training for Technology Careers
Today’s IT professional must master two skill families in order to be successful. The first is technical skills and knowledge. That part of IT education is obvious. Without a solid technical understanding, you simply can’t do the job. The second is gaining skills for customer service in IT: An ability to understand, get along with, and influence people. Even though our jobs are indeed technical in nature, the human component is always present and it’s often the most challenging part of our jobs. We may have the technical knowledge to help an end-user, but if they’re angry, frustrated, or otherwise upset, it’s our people skills that allow us first to manage the situation successfully. Then we use our technical skills to solve the technical problem.
Thanksgiving Devotions: Mister Rogers and Gratitude
This is Thanksgiving week in the U.S. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, because it’s always been the least commercialized of our major holidays. I love the time with family and friends, the great food, and the opportunity to reflect on the blessings of my life.
For more than 40 years, Don Crawley has worked with technology, from broadcasting to automation systems to data networks. A former IT trainer and consultant, he is an award-winning IT customer service speaker and the author of eight books for IT professionals including The Compassionate Geek. He’s especially good at helping IT teams work together so they can get things done.