Our Journey to Corporate Sanity

Society and business are fusing as we move into a world where technology is not considered to be evil (although it can, of course, still be used for evil purposes by people). We should be more focused on understanding the value technology brings to our lives and business, while also spending more time being silent and appreciating the beauty of the world we live in and connecting with others. We too often blame technology for our poor choices in how we spend our time. As a child, I loved to read, but my father would not allow us to read during dinnertime, even though he shared our love of books. He wanted us to share our time together, focused on each other. We can do the same with our mobile devices by setting them aside when spending quality time with those close to us, and then using them wisely to connect with people and open new opportunities.

We are hiding behind a fairly recent belief that we need to detox from technology. While it is true that some people believe they need to be responsive 24/7 to any message that comes through their device, it is rarely an issue of technology. Did we blame the telephone or the lightbulb for bringing new connectivity into our lives? While it can be so invigorating and healthy to spend time in nature or simply go for a walk, it doesn’t mean that we necessarily need to detox ourselves from our technology. What if we looked at our underlying addictive patterns instead? Thinking that we need to answer emails or texts in the middle of the night is a whole different conversation that brings us again to the deeper issue of what work really means for us today. We can’t blame technology for our own misguided behavioral patterns.