Fast-paced change and increasing amounts of information in organisations create overwhelm, a jumbled mind and “head spin”, where people grasp for the answers and information amongst a plethora of data. Some cope with this by tuning out external distractions, focusing on their own needs and disconnecting from those around them. Others engage and vie for attention and their opinion to be accepted as the “right answer”. The perceived connection is not real but self-driven from the ego.
Who are you disconnected from?
We are not machines and the ever-increasing pace is not sustainable for human beings. We are bombarded by information, but we cannot process it at the same pace as a computer does. As computer processing power increases in speed, our view of what is possible becomes further skewed, and people put themselves under increased pressure to try to keep up. The uncertainty of operating in an environment like this is immense, and the continuous uncertainty and pressure can lead to overwhelm and overload. There is no headspace for reflection, and people find themselves caught up in the swell.
Organisations measure numerical results and financial targets rather than relationships, collaboration and innovation, leading to further disconnection as people work towards competing objectives. The volume of information available exacerbates the desire to achieve aggressive targets and drives a high-performance culture. While organisations continue to make financial targets more important than engagement and human connection, leaders will continually strive for individual rather than collective success.
Working in this way can lead to burnout and mental health issues. When the pressure is on to deliver, human connection is one of the first things to suffer. We have to find another way to use technology instead of being used by it. Business results are now generated by a combination of people and technology. We provide the right environment for technology to work. We need to afford people the environment where they can thrive, too. That is human connection.
Human beings vs supercomputers
Human beings process information in a contextual way, which includes the environment, emotions and systems around us. We get distracted by information because we emotionally engage with it, whereas computers do not.
If we establish that we are not superhuman and not machines, who are we? What is the core of humanity?
If we use computers and robots to do the work that we can’t do, we can focus on the core of what makes us human, which is creativity and thought leadership, embracing the skills of nurturing, community and connection. We can do that without burning out and having a nervous breakdown. Computers, by contrast, can process high volumes of data, sort it logically and provide output that enables us to make decisions effectively.
We compete with computers for speed and volume. It’s a competition we cannot win. Computers don’t have a finite capacity because we upgrade them and expand their capacity whereas the human capacity for processing is finite. If your phone fills up with photos, you either delete information or upgrade the phone to hold more. You cannot currently upgrade your brain to process information faster. I hope you never will. As human beings, we have expanded our capabilities for decades in parallel to the processing power of computers. We need to recognise that we have our limits when it comes to processing information and that we need to operate within them. We must ensure we retain the core of our humanity and work alongside technology without needing to become it.
We need to consider the capabilities of humanity. It’s not processing 500 emails a day with 50 WhatsApp messages and all the social media platforms spewing out misinformation. We can’t physically, mentally and emotionally process everything, and we should not try to do so.
We have trained our brains to operate at high speed and don’t know how to switch off. We are more overstimulated than ever before, and our brains are constantly whirring, leading to stress and overwhelm. As technology evolves, we are unconsciously making the assumption that we can evolve at the same pace of processing. All of this exacerbates the uncertainty.
Where are you running at full speed and need to slow down?
Gio and Mr Blue chase each other in the snow
In the Industrial Age, we created machines that were operated by us to speed up our ability to do our work. Now our work is determined by technology. Technology drives the pace of work and change, and we cannot control the quality and volume of information that exists in the world today. Either we respond to technological advances, or we become obsolete in the market place. Technology-based businesses such as Amazon, Uber and Airbnb disrupt the way we live and work, and that creates uncertainty for legacy businesses which need to adapt quickly to survive. Those who lack the agility to adapt quickly and to be flexible could lose their jobs or their businesses. Uncertainty and the rapidly changing world work for those who are early adopters and fast to respond. If you are in this camp, it’s easier, but for many of your team, it may be much harder to embrace change. We need to help people adapt to this new way of behaving.
Data and information drive our behaviour. Smartphones, tablets and nanotechnology tell us what to eat, when to move, how to meditate and so on. We can’t go back to how things were, but we can choose how we use technology and how it drives our decisions now and in the future. Most importantly, we can choose how it affects humanity. But will we?
The ethics of technology
Technology raises questions of ethics to consider and address. The rise of artificial intelligence has major implications for the future of work, business, employees, society and the human race.
While technology has enabled substantial progress through research and faster processing, it affects our security, privacy and society. It becomes increasingly difficult to opt out of technological advances that erode privacy, like the apps that tell you where the airport check-in desk is because it knows you’ve arrived and also knows which airline you are travelling on. It is likely that future generations will not have a concept of privacy in the way we do today. Is that a good or a bad thing? However you view it, the consequences of how we choose to use technology influence our everyday behaviour, and this increases the uncertainty with which we live and work.
The Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report 20171 indicates that the pace of change of technology is growing exponentially, followed by people, business and lastly public bodies. Government organisations and public bodies are slow to respond to the impact of technological change. When new technology is released, nobody can be sure what will be widely adopted and how it might influence how we live and work. If technology businesses are influencing our future, and if government organisations and public bodies are not providing the guidelines, who will?
We have the opportunity to assess the impact of what we are doing with technology before it is too late. But will we? And are we moving fast enough?
The vast changes in business and society create uncertainty for all of us in both our working and personal lives. It is possible to use technology as a force for good, to create opportunities and enhance society, but it relies on the few who make those decisions to consider the impact from all angles. Given that people are incentivised by targets and not by the impact on humanity, there is no guarantee that all decisions will be ethical and life-enhancing for all. We can change that. It is the responsibility of every leader to ensure that the decisions we make are enhancing and do benefit society in the longer term. It’s not acceptable for leaders to line their own pockets with bonuses and pay rises without considering the enormous impact we have as leaders, and the responsibility we take on for shaping the future of our world.
Our decisions create an impact, consciously or unconsciously. It is the responsibility of all business leaders to act wisely and consciously to create a sustainable future that is life-enhancing for all.