We seem to accept that it is normal for people to be in the middle of a conversation with us (and most likely two others at the same time) while simultaneously participating in a web seminar, while simultaneously texting/emailing, as well as flicking back and forth to their Facebook or LinkedIn feeds.
We seem to accept that it is normal for people to be in the middle of a conversation with us (and most likely two others at the same time) while simultaneously participating in a web seminar, while simultaneously texting/emailing, as well as flicking back and forth to their Facebook or LinkedIn feeds.
Now am I alone here or does anyone else sense that while an awful lot of people are doing all of these things concurrently, not many of them are doing any of them particularly well?
It seems we can have four ‘conversations’ at the same time, but do any of them actually get past level one on the depth sounder and as a result, is any real understanding achieved? Furthermore, how many of these ‘conversations’ are repeated later on?
It also seems to me that more and more people come to an exchange wanting an answer that is either “No” or “Yes”, or at most they expect an answer that has no more than one simple sentence.
Whatever happened to:
“Well it depends.”
It strikes me that the expectation of immediacy is leading many people to expect the unreasonable and to get frustrated when it isn’t delivered. Their frustration then builds further because they are not skilled in how to engage in a deeper conversation which is often what is required to uncover the richer, “well it depends” aspects of the answer.
I see some of these people then dealing with higher levels of stress produced by their inability to get an immediate answer, to every complex question.
I will concede this is a sweeping generalisation, but it seems younger people aim their use of technology at tools which enable immediacy of communication, while my generation (I’m 52) also love the smart, labour saving and practical technology tools and apps.
This might be just a recent trend, but are the old dudes catching up?
Are the younger ones now being forced to move on from using these tools only to work out where to meet for drinks, to now also having to use them to actually create some income?
I’d be keen to hear your views but let’s not float the example of the San Francisco Bay mega geek who made a squillion before their 28th birthday, to try to prove me wrong. They make the headlines for sure, but I see reasonable numbers of ordinary young people floundering with all this technology and its invasion of their lives, their stress levels increasing fast and the quality of their communication going in the opposite direction.
I might be starting to sound like the grumpy old man in the corner office but then again I might be onto something here. Tip: don’t try to make me wrong. Why not just write and tell me what you see.
All (polite) comments are most welcome to info@miningpeople.com.au or to myself directly at steve.heather@miningpeople.com.au
Steve Heather
Managing Director and Principal Executive Search and Consulting
Mining People International