In a digital world, there are numerous technologies that we are attached to that create infinite interruption.
Tim Ferriss – Author
I’m a Gutenberg person. What do I mean? Well, I process information, in this case the written word, in a left-to-right, linear narrative. Each sentence has a thought that builds into the next sentence, paragraph, section, and chapter. The process builds on itself leading to insights, conclusions, and recommendations. Most of our communications, problem solving, and decision making are based on this linear model.
Most of us are evolving into digital immigrants. Let me explain. People growing up today, digital natives, seem to process information in almost a non-linear fashion. Several examples may clarify this. You’ve seen a music video? Powerful, kinetic images, gifs, memes, tropes, and language are flashed every several seconds. The Gutenbergs among us exclaim: ‘say what’? Digital natives say: ‘dope’ – Google ‘Urban Dictionary’ for the online definition.
Digital natives convey and process digital information differently almost experientially. The Gutenbergs miss the meme, video, or gif experience because the images and lyrics don’t seem to be connected and make little sense. I suppose it’s a generational and contextual thing.
Another example may help. All of us surf the Web and lean in to certain content. The process is pretty simple. You click on a topic and it links you to another one. The connections between topics can be strong or loose. A link can even connect you to something purely random. The point is that you may learn this way. You develop an overall itch, passion, context, or perspective of a topic and if you want more detail, you drill down.
Work Lesson Earned: We’ve tried to capture a Work Lesson Earned™ in each story. We want to share replicable and scalable ‘tips and tools’ that hopefully can work for you in today’s disruptive work world. These ‘tips and tools’ can be both conventional as well as counterintuitive.