As with all my blog topics, this is a potentially huge subject. This short read is purely to try and encourage you to think about what instant gratification is and how it might be changing the way you, your team, your family or your customers see the world.
The social media and tech giants are (rightly in my opinion) starting to come under scrutiny. Their moral standing, their business ethics, their use of personal data for financial gain etc. My question is what are the side effects of these practices? How are these behaviours changing the way society works and how people see their position in that society?
The pursuit of instant gratification has grown exponentially over the last 10 years or so. As a result, instant discontent is also on the rise. A potentially dangerous spiral as we quickly search for the lift we need because of the last knock down we received.
Finding out people’s opinions on things used to take time. It used to involve conversation, research and relationship-building. The process allowed thought and multiple sources of information to be put together to form an accurate picture of a situation or a person. As information and feedback have been made more readily available, this process has sped up and been condensed into something barely recognisable.
Remember the days where you would have to build up the courage to speak to someone you were attracted to? You would have multiple exchanges (hopefully!) and try and develop a relationship with a physical person you happened to have crossed paths with. You would have time to build up a picture of the person beyond a two-dimensional first impression. With the advent of apps such as Tinder, this process has been reduced to mere seconds, a book judged entirely by its cover and a simple flick of the thumb.
Don’t get me wrong, instant feedback can be great. It can allow swift changes to a product, service or relationship. It can lift us up when we are down. It can rapidly spread all sorts of wonderful or important information. It can also spread rash thoughts and opinions, fake news and hate at an incredible rate.
The days of having to work to earn a platform from which to be heard are gone. The internet has levelled the playing field so much so that anybody, literally anybody, can express an opinion and have it seen by millions. With great power comes great responsibility (the words of Voltaire, not me) and it is this responsibility which is lagging behind the speed of the technological developments which offer the power.
Why might this be of interest to you? How does it affect business decisions? How does it tie in with empathy?
‘Rashness’ is not a good character trait in anybody in any situation. Business decisions made on impulsive feedback or in pursuit of the famed ‘overnight success’ are rarely good and we have all seen the devastating effect Twitter can have on people’s lives when in the public eye. That one thought, from what feels like a million years ago that you didn’t keep to yourself but shared with the whole planet, forever, comes back to haunt you.
When we speak of empathy, we speak of understanding people from their frame of reference. It is impossible to do this if a relationship is shallow. The culture of instant gratification encourages shallow relationships. It pulls us towards empty compliments, burns us with the vitriol of online trolls and makes it harder than ever to be empathetic. Relationships are formed and discarded faster, and based on less, than ever before.
I encourage each and every one of you, take a breath, take a step back, and think. Look at the cause and effect behind the behaviours, reactions, decisions and mood of the people around you, the business decisions you make, the relationships you build and the bridges you burn. Simon Sinek talks about life being an infinite game. You don’t ‘win’ at life. You don’t score points. The rules are ever-changing, the players are ever-changing and the goals are ever-changing. If we play with an instant-gratification-focused, finite mindset, we will never achieve as much as those with an infinite, open, welcoming, patient, understanding and empathetic mindset. Quick is not always good and just because we can, doesn’t mean we should – but more on that next time…
#communication_is_king #understanding_is_everything #bekind
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