I don’t write technical posts. I try to pass on thought and opinion in the hope that someone takes something from them.
And this one is no different.
We work in an age now where we have tools for this and tools for that. We’ve automated a lot of what we do and have a heavy reliance on software and a working internet connection to do our job. We use software to pass on questions and answers and to generally keep in touch. Today, I have on my machine Slack, Skype, Github and Waffle open on my machine and of course there is also Twitter, Facebook and the other social media platforms at hand. They all allow me to keep track of people, work and conversations. They also allow me to be selective in what and who I interact with.
Whilst I think this amazing, I am left wondering whether we have compromised a lot of what we were good at by having such a reliance on this stuff and letting the tech take over.
Are we losing the art of talking a problem through?
I can explain a problem I might have or give an answer to a question verbally. I might drop in a few C Bombs but eventually once the spit and fists have stopped flying, the other person will know my problem and my pain.
The alternative is to get it down digitally but at times it is hard to capture what is needed to be explained and be made understood.
Talking helps.
Another issue I have is that like I said, you can be selective. I get a lot of messages sent to me. I reply to them but I’m selective in what I reply to as some of it is not important, some of it is. Some of it can wait until later. I also think though it’s easy for people to think fuck it, someone else can answer it or they can work it out themselves. It could go unanswered for hours, days even months. We often just accept that it’s ok to ignore and eventually people asking stop or accept it will take a while to get answered and ease off.
Relying on just typing it down and walking away is dangerous and lazy. If I have to pass on any advice, I would say never stop talking. If you need something, sure, ask away in the Slack channel or in the github issue but always use your initiative. If it’s urgent, would it make more sense to ask someone direct? Are you blocked on a task? Can you unblock it quicker by asking the person direct?
Talking helps.
Don’t just think because you have asked something digitally that it is seen. It’s not an open ticket to sit back and wait. Be proactive.
Talking helps.
We have become too reliant on digital means of communicating. I speak to family and friends more via Twitter and Facebook than by seeing them face to face. It’s wrong. It’s what we have become I guess. It’s the future and the present.
We shouldn’t rely on these things to communicate all the time.
Talking helps. Keep talking.