Business Communications and Connectivity
A client recently asked me to gather and review some articles on life with the ubiquitous BlackBerry. Although I’m not a user myself, I am closely related to some major BlackBerry enthusiasts. So, I was eager to read up on the subject.
As I’ve noted before, successful business relationships require intimacy – a willingness to get to know the human beings we work with and want to work with. It’s basically the same kind of intimacy that fuels healthy connections to family and friends. But, according to some observers, the tools that many of us now depend on for everyday connectivity may be compromising our capacity for intimacy.
In a Forbes.com article on PDAs (as in personal digital assistants) and intimate relationships, one expert describes this kind of wireless technology as “the modern-day equivalent to the spinster chaperone.” Although PDAs appear to boost relationships by providing users access to one another 24/7, the interactions they facilitate are generally quick and impersonal. As these “nanosecond communications” become the norm for us, we expect “instant relationships as well as all other kinds of instant gratification.”
As a WSJ.com piece on BlackBerry Orphans suggests, this expectation may not play out so well in the real world of human-to-human connection. While some of the quotes from kids dealing with PDA-obsessed parents are funny, the sentiments behind the words are powerful and hard to ignore. These kids are expressing a real need for attention – they want to be more visible to their parents. But, at many points throughout the day, they’re largely invisible because their parents have exchanged intimacy for constant connectivity.
For another perspective on the nexus between constant connectivity, our (past, present, future) everyday lives and our business communications, set aside a few minutes to watch this thought-provoking video, Did You Know? (tipped at Marketing Profs Daily Fix).
As I’ve noted before, successful business relationships require intimacy – a willingness to get to know the human beings we work with and want to work with. It’s basically the same kind of intimacy that fuels healthy connections to family and friends. But, according to some observers, the tools that many of us now depend on for everyday connectivity may be compromising our capacity for intimacy.
In a Forbes.com article on PDAs (as in personal digital assistants) and intimate relationships, one expert describes this kind of wireless technology as “the modern-day equivalent to the spinster chaperone.” Although PDAs appear to boost relationships by providing users access to one another 24/7, the interactions they facilitate are generally quick and impersonal. As these “nanosecond communications” become the norm for us, we expect “instant relationships as well as all other kinds of instant gratification.”
As a WSJ.com piece on BlackBerry Orphans suggests, this expectation may not play out so well in the real world of human-to-human connection. While some of the quotes from kids dealing with PDA-obsessed parents are funny, the sentiments behind the words are powerful and hard to ignore. These kids are expressing a real need for attention – they want to be more visible to their parents. But, at many points throughout the day, they’re largely invisible because their parents have exchanged intimacy for constant connectivity.
For another perspective on the nexus between constant connectivity, our (past, present, future) everyday lives and our business communications, set aside a few minutes to watch this thought-provoking video, Did You Know? (tipped at Marketing Profs Daily Fix).
