Are we giving technology permission to disengage us and block communication, collaboration … growth?
Everybody knows…
Ask anyone in business, education or life in general and they’ll agree with you that the brain is incredibly powerful. Most will agree that we only use it about 10% of its capability probably because they heard or read it somewhere. But has technology helped or hindered us in using the untapped 90%?
As we ‘know’ technology has catapulted our computing capability where a smartphone is standard issue and occupies a special place in handbags, purses and pockets. There’s even a special stand on the desktop and some have their own personalised cover with inbuilt tracking if you misplace it. It’s like an appendage, a limpit to which we have a physical and mental attraction. When it beeps, we reach for it as some form of (un)controlled automatic reaction… “someone needs me!”
Has “Technology” the Tool, become the Master?
The following video was sent to me with comments about how great this was and what it would do to make the scenes from “Minority Report” become a reality. And yes, if you watch this 10 min TED talk you’ll get that belief – even if you’ve no idea what the movie “Minority Report” with Tom Cruise was demonstrating.
The video, however, started with a message that maybe many miss and says a lot about where many people are today…
You might think that it was a very clever subliminal advertising promo for a new product. And you might be right. But that’s just a distraction for this purpose.
What else did you see? Behavioural Waste?
Did you see what I saw in the first 2 minutes – a message about awareness and giving our permission for a computer (smartphone) to become our master rather than a tool extending our capabilities? Do you observe behaviour that Meron suggests in restaurants – with others or yourself? How we easily give ourselves permission to be distracted even in a personal conversation where the other person perceives (their reality) disinterest… (at this point my toes are curling up as I’m answering my own questions in my mind …and once again I unconditionally apologise to my wife …)
“… he forces his eyeballs back up to mine and said, ‘keep going, I’m with you’… the moment was dead.”
For me this short introduction captured the very real problem we have today of being engaged and disengaged. We do it mostly automatically without noticing – it’s our habit, we always do it that way. Of course when you start to think deeper lots of other messages come to light. What does it do for you?
Communication is a collaborative discussion
It also says to me that communication can easily be engaging or disengaging – no surprise there! The guy on another table sharing and laughing with his colleagues using the same device, a smart phone, about Instagram pictures. His colleagues were engaged in a collaborative moment. I’m sure we’ve all experienced that too.
Some questions may be…
- Do you agree with Meron Gribetz that tools should extend our senses rather than going against them?
- Is what you do, or what your organisation does blocking the collaborative brain power?
- How do you see that manifest itself?
If you ask the simple but tough questions and answer them honestly you’re on the right road to developing your can-do attitude and winning mindset. Of course, technology, business systems/processes and other people could block or distract you. But it’s how you handle those ‘blockages and distractions’ that will make all the difference to your future.
Despite the complicated nature of some business, and with my oil industry experience I’ve seen a lot of complexity, you can always break it down into bite-sized chunks, so I still believe
business is simple, people make it complicated
To gauge where you are and see what type of attitude you, your team or organisation has – Can-Do, Can’t-Do or Won’t Do – here’s a link to the Mind Fit Footprint that will give an insight into how much Behavioural Waste™ exists http://www.mindfitltd.com/awesome-surveys/mind-fit-footprint/
Want to take this further?
As ever you have a choice – what’s yours?
