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One hundred years ago, there weren't all these ways to stay in touch yet business was built, careers thrived, and relationships flourished. Media penetration has created the ability for us to connect with someone on the other side of the planet we may not have previously known. The explosion of social tools and electronic collaborative spaces have shrunk the earth to allow us to find like-minded people with the push of a thumb.

We are all publishes, media makers, opinion sharers, and data miners.

As we create the appearance of a more connected world, we may be slowly losing the connection to ourselves and soon to each other. Snippets of half conversations, misspelled texts between meetings, skimmed over details of an upcoming project, all in the quest to do more and more and more.

More for less, more meetings, more email, more information, more activity. More everything. The week is the same length it was 200 years ago yet we are inundated with data constantly. This doesn’t mean it’s useful or valuable but it’s more to sift through. And while we try and do more, we may be losing our human connections.

Less might be a good strategy.
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A Connected World Less Connected

Anytime you walk into a business, it can be an interesting look into human behavior. There are people in meetings, typing on laptops, discussing a new project in the hall, drinking coffee, and maybe even having a laugh or two. It’s a peek into a subsection of society we call work. They say we spent a third of our lives in this space. It appears it's rapidly becoming more. We may not be "at work" but we seem to be spending a larger amount of time working, thinking about work, worrying about work, discussing work.

Our workspace is expanding physically as technology spreads it into homes and airports and has created an almost 24/7 culture where we are checking messages on smartphones at all hours to ensure we don’t miss anything. Instant responses are commonplace and our ability to always stay connected has become the topic of debate.

Need it Now

One hundred years ago, there weren't all these ways to stay in touch yet business was built, careers thrived, and relationships flourished. Media penetration has created the ability for us to connect with someone on the other side of the planet we may not have previously known. The explosion of social tools and electronic collaborative spaces have shrunk the earth to allow us to find like-minded people with the push of a thumb.

168 hours

As we create the appearance of a more connected world, we may be slowly losing the connection to ourselves and soon to each other. Snippets of half conversations, misspelled texts between meetings, skimmed over details of an upcoming project, all in the quest to do more and more and more.

More for less, more meetings, more email, more information, more activity. More everything. The week is the same length it was 200 years ago yet we are inundated with data constantly. This doesn’t mean it’s useful or valuable but it’s more to sift through. And while we try and do more, we may be losing our human connections.

In our quest to collaborate, we may be losing the plot.
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit

keystothepage

Can You See The Trees For The Forest?

It seems to be everywhere: bad news and poor economy. The big question is – what will you do about it?

Facts and Garbage
There is a great analogy about dealing with bad stuff. Imagine a friend walks into your house and dumps a big bag of garbage in the middle of your living room.

That bag of garbage is bad news and negative thoughts. What do you do? Thank them? Hang on to the garbage? Or get them to clean it up? We have a choice to own the garbage or discard it.

Anytime After Now

Humans are the only beings on earth that can conceive of the past and the future. Every other being can only live in the now. Something we humans should do more often!

If you run a business, what can you do about yesterday? What can you do about tomorrow? What you can control is what you do right now.

You Probably Know The Answer

If you have inefficiencies, staff in the wrong positions, product lines that need improvement, communication issues that need to be dealt with – deal with it right now. Tomorrow will never get here. You have today.

There is a theory that the best psychologists or coaches simply show us the path to the answer we already know. You know what you need to do. You know how you can improve your business. And it may be as simple as opening up your mind to your co-workers and staff for the answer.

Sometimes we forget that the thick lush forest is made up of many trees.

@knealemann

photo credits: www.nanps.org | www.boston.com

Content. Context. Community. (cont'd)

Money, That's What I Want

If you’ve been in the workforce long enough, you have probably been asked – formerly or informally – about your reasons for wanting to work in a certain industry or at a particular company. You may think that the number one reason most people cite is compensation but that is virtually never the case.

Clearly you want to make a good living but it must come with more than a good deposit in the bank account every two weeks. Don'cha think?

Ask a former Wall Street rockstar if it was worth it.

Guess What Happened To Me Today?

Think back to the last ten business conversations you’ve had. Now count up how much time was spent by anyone on work environment, coworkers in a negative light or lack of respect in the workplace verses real actual business chat.

What Will Make Us Happy

More widgets? More efficiency? Quicker turnarounds?

Or a co-creative environment of encouragement, strong internal customer service and personal/professional growth where your strengths and abilities are valued?

Nah, dumb idea, let's go with the widgets.

@knealemann

photo credit: djibnet.com