Artificial intelligence is growing in sophistication, and the current expectation is that 30% of all jobs will be performed by artificial intelligence by 2030. Whether this becomes a reality or not, the role of the employee will continue to change as information and data processing will be performed by computers far faster and more efficiently than humans ever could manage it. This raises an interesting question over what we value in business and how we reward people. How do we reconcile the fact that care workers, nurses and social workers, whose work cannot be automated, are paid so little compared with lawyers and accountants whose work could be automated in the future?
How do we redress the balance of pay so that we reward emotional intelligence, social responsibility, compassion and caring for the community as well as intellect?
How do we create a world where humanity is as important as information and knowledge when the latter can be mechanised and the former cannot?
The uncertainty of our time is being driven by the increased adoption of technology and has wide-reaching implications for all of us. This is not new, of course. In the Industrial Age, human action was replaced by machines, but the pace of change is accelerating, and therefore the uncertainty is increasing, and that has an emotional impact. We can use technology to improve the way we live and work if we make decisions consciously, but the ethical debate around technology needs to be considered by all of us.
How can you use technology more consciously and recognise the impact it has on your daily life?
Connection or disconnection?
People use technology as a way of disconnecting from things that feel uncomfortable, such as standing in a queue in a coffee shop, or waiting for a train, bus or taxi. Even in meetings, when things get uncomfortable people distract themselves from the moment by using technology to disconnect from the emotion as well as from those around them.
We use technology to disconnect when the connection or the learning is uncomfortable. It acts as a comfort blanket, something we can rely on to make us feel better in uncomfortable situations.
You hear stories of people being fired by text message. How cruel is that? The person sending the text avoids seeing and feeling the emotional pain of the person on the receiving end. How sad that we feel the need to disconnect emotionally from one another and cannot be with each other’s pain. It’s essential for leaders to develop their emotional capacity to feel their own feelings and lead through and with them, as well as empathising with others and supporting them through their process.
As a species, we are more connected and also more disconnected than ever before. Families are widely dispersed globally. As children growing up, we were in and out of each other’s homes, sharing the laughter, the joy, the pain and sadness, too. Emotion was a fundamental part of our lives. Connection was obvious and effortless, and our sphere of connection and community was local.
In the backdrop of human to human disconnection, the desire for connection has not gone away as it is a fundamental part of being human. Instead, people seek connection via social media, finding people they agree with, who share their ideas and opinions, shutting down from anyone who may be different. As the world of business seeks to embrace more diverse opinions, the way we use technology creates the opposite approach. Online search engines have been programmed to decide what you see on your news feed, based on past searches and what you have liked. Technology influences what you do and don’t see, and that impacts your opinions and beliefs.
Although people bare their soul on social media, there is a sense of disconnection from the heart, from community and from family. We have an opportunity to use technology to connect rather than disconnect, and we need the emotional resilience to allow us to be with the differences that world views bring.
Collaboration not competition
There is a need to work in collaboration with technology rather than competing with it on pace and output. We are no longer bound by our immediate local community in life and work. Technology can expand your horizons and that increases the uncertainty. The limitless opportunities for connection and collaboration can be overwhelming, so the tendency can be to shut it down. In addition, the facelessness of technology can lead to disconnection. We cannot see someone’s emotional response when we send an email, text or WhatsApp message. While emoticons give you some idea of the sender’s emotion, using technology has become a way of avoiding the emotional impact of empathy. Instead of giving bad news face to face, people have taken the cowardly way out of communicating via technology. Technology used in this way creates emotional disconnection, which has a major impact on our society.
We need a more conscious awareness of how we use technology going forward to ensure we develop it and use it to enhance business and society.
Technology has had a hugely positive impact on how we live and work, advancing solutions in healthcare, renewable energy and business in general. It enables us to collaborate globally on projects that we previously could not, expanding the realms of what is possible and embracing different cultures and ways of working.
While research can be performed faster with technology, there is a genuine concern about the quality of the data on the internet. The rise of social media has brought about popular commentary where anyone can share their opinion as if it were a fact, and much of it is very convincing. Where previously people referred to specific journalists for facts and information, the internet is now awash with supposed scientific reports that contradict each other. We no longer know what to believe and this can cause people to be misguided or, worse, disengaged through overwhelm. Leaders need to focus and gain clarity on what to pay attention to and what to ignore. The ability to sift out important information is critical to how decisions are made.
Successful leaders in the future will integrate technological advances with their innate wisdom and emotions to ensure we create a future of connection rather than disconnection.
MASTERING UNCERTAINTY
Before you move on to the next chapter, spend 10 minutes reflecting on how technology affects your behaviour.
| Download the Leading Through Uncertainty workbook from www.judejennison.com/uncertainty and record your reflections. |
PROVOKING PERSONAL INSIGHT
Who are you disconnected from?
Where are you running at full speed and need to slow down?
What decisions are you making today that will affect the future for generations to come?