Have some ‘De-Digitalized Dialogues’



These days, it seems like we are glued to our screens. First we did spend many hours per day in front of the TV. Then we were (mostly for work) tied to terminals and PC’s. And since the introduction of smartphones, it looks like we are inseparable – the screen and me. Whether we are sitting in the train, biking, attending a seminar or having a coffee, we are always staring at the screen.

It looks like that the ‘good-old’ dialogue, where you have eye contact and are focused on the conversation itself and your partners, are disappearing fast. While I will certainly not deny the benefit of always being able to connect to the Internet, we are at the same time missing something. We miss the real (and sometimes emotional) connection with other human beings. This connection is crucial to understand the other persons. And interpersonal sensitivity is not easily transferred via the screen.
We do need to look each other into the eyes to get to know each other.

This is especially important for innovation. In a face-to-face meeting you will create a constructive and open atmosphere, which will speed up the process of coming up with great ideas and solutions. It becomes easier to build upon each other’s suggestions.
However, these meetings, or de-digitalized dialogues as I like to call them, need to be planned. You need to carefully bring the right people into the room, without the screens. I don’t believe that Marissa Mayer’s new policy (no working from home anymore) for Yahoo, will work as intended. You will not meet the right people by accident in the corridor. Or that is at least highly unlikely.

You need to plan these regular de-digitalized dialogues. When are you planning your DDD?



Enthusiasm drives Excellence!


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