The other day I was caught in the torrents of tropical storm Maria…luckily before it turned into a devastating hurricane. As often happens there was a power cut. However, even to my suprise, our first concern was not our stock of candles and dried goods in case the weather took a turn for the worse.
No. Our priority was our combined battery life across a litany of devices; how many minutes of ‘connection’ did we have. In this circumstance I get it – as we have seen those connected minutes saved lives and shows how the power of digital technology can infinitely enrich and preserve our being.
However it did make me think about how we use technology in our less instinctive moments. Those moments where our ‘fight or flight’ mechanisms are not kicking in to ensure we best leverage our innate and appended resources.
I had a few flashbacks of myself in my cognitive prime: creating patterns in my head to remember phone numbers; checking the dictionary for spelling; asking a human being for directions; picking up the phone to call a friend using the number I so cannily remembered; throwing down a card or dice in mock disgust after losing yet another game of snap/monopoly to a cocky ten year old.
I am not saying that the advent of technology is not a good thing…far from it.
Technology has undoubtedly enhanced our connectedness….. all devices and things can be interconnected via internet: washing machines, central heating, wearable devices…anything. We have become proficient at interacting with devices…second nature. We also have more channels than ever to access people and turn our private lives inside out.
But are we becoming more connected with ourselves and how we really interact with each other? Not on chat, social media or behind a virtual alter ego…but face to face…the personal touch.
Are we at risk of spawning a generation who cannot read a facial expression, strike up a conversation, rumble a cheater in a game of gin rummy, spot their own spelling mistakes or discern they are unwell without the ‘expert’ guidance of Google or some other health app? Is it possible to be humanly ‘dumb’ but simultaneously a digital genius??
Maybe there are opportunities for organisations to balance investment in our digital prowess with enhancement of the ability to be fabulously analogue humans; helping us exploit our ability to conjure and process infinite possibilities on a much simpler and broader scale than formal innovation techniques and crowd / idea sourcing that may be the reserve of the relative few.
How about the nuances of a nice game of snap?
That might be a good start….
TNC
The Nice Consultant 