So, as I start this little piece of writing, I think Kevin Lewis is a genius, and I have thought this ever since I first met him around the year 2000.
I was always aware of Kevin Lewis as a young dentist because he was famous, extraordinarily successful in dental protection, external speaking, and classy, or so it seemed.
When I took on my role as secretary of the East Midlands BDA (For my boss, who was then the president), I got the chance to meet Kevin Lewis face to face when he came to lecture our group one dark winter evening.
As I said above, he was a classy individual. I think he was wearing a Thomas Pink scarf and a very expensive overcoat over his suit.
He just looked the part, like a successful, influential professional individual.
We spoke after the meeting. He asked me what I did in dentistry, and I chatted about my career and told him that I was involved in medical-legal expert work for the MDDUS.
He gave me his card and told me that I was to contact him directly because he wanted me to do some work for dental protection.
It was one of those instances where someone really, really famous is really kind and makes an offer that's never likely to be kept, not out of malice just because they're busy, I think, I hope.
And so, I contacted his secretary on several occasions but never got anything back.
I was never bitter about that. I understood that I was way down here and Kevin was way up there.
Again, I read his column in Dentistry time after time, and I understood that he spoke to me a bit like Seth Godin did. He was a clever guy trying to do the right thing, trying to tell people the right story about how it should be.
Bizarrely and weirdly, I then had the opportunity to meet him again, face to face, at his request many years later, around 16 years later, I think.
My mentor, guide, and friend John Gibson had become the chairman of dental protection (a crazy big job) and worked closely with Kevin Lewis.
After my whole GDC encounter and then the blogs that I wrote about them (You can read the start of them here first) and all the attention that was gained, I was asked to go to dinner with Kevin Lewis in London.
I met John Gibson, who had facilitated this on Kevin's behalf outside the BBC, and we went to Kevin's favourite Italian restaurant in London.
I was a bit bemused and unsure why I was there.
I requested all those appointments to meet him previously had never been responded to, and now I was being asked to go for dinner in 2016.
And so, we went to the restaurant, sat down, the three of us. It was all very nice. Then, halfway through the meal, Kevin looked at me and said, "Do you know why you're here?" I said, "Not really." He said, "We thought we understood what it was like for a dentist to have a GDC case, and then you wrote a blog, and then we put it on our wall."
I'm not sure if he put it on his wall, but it was a wonderful sentiment—I was blown away.
And so that's the introduction.
I know Kevin Lewis from a distance; he has no idea who I am, but he continues to write in Dentistry, and you should read it every single time he publishes.
In this edition of Dentistry, he has written about humanity.
I have been banging on about this on these pages for ages, but no one will listen to me, but they will listen to Kevin.
I am a little bit fed up of people who work for corporations, telling me that the way forward is to get rid of my receptionists and put ipads mounted on stands in reception so people can self check-in so that they don't have to speak to anyone so that it saves me money.
In a world that is catapulting towards AI note-taking, AI receptionists, and AI phone call sifting, your unique ability, your unique selling point, and your differentiating principle will be humanity.
I used to think this was only set for people of Kevin's age or my age, people at the other end of their career who hark back to a day before the digital world, but it isn't.
I'm seeing a lot of people in their forties now who are amazed that we will take the time to speak to and understand them.
To be clear, every single human is different in some way or another.
I understand that the supercomputers can differentiate between that, but to be creative and kind and subtle and have insight into what people need, that will always be our unique ability.
And so, I've said this before, and I'll say it again and effectively. It's what Kevin has said in his column in Dentistry this month. (Thanks again, Kevin, for all the inspiration).
What you need to do in your world is use technology to make you more human, not less human.
The more humanity you have, the more successful you will be.
I will be singing that hymn for the rest of my career until someone proves me wrong (but I doubt they will).
Blog Post Number - 3903
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