Private spaces where daydreaming, deeper thinking and creative decisions can break through the surface and trigger an “aha” are disappearing. Employees’ schedules are packed with meetings, phone calls, Skype calls, GoToMeeting web meetings, Slack messages, email interactions and on and on. “Efficiency” and “productivity” are chipping away at the last vestiges of the quiet moments when a person can think. Accessing the Default Mode Network, which enables new ideas to emerge, requires eliminating distractions and external stimuli to leave time for contemplation, discovery, creativity and discernment, all critical components of good decision-making.
Over the past decade, we have written about and discussed the many risky consequences of an excessive use of digital technology, especially through social media and especially on the young. Last year, we noted that concern about the negative effects of such technology and its pervasive computing capability had started to put the digital industry, especially social media, on defense. That pushback continues, but pushback against errors does not necessarily mean pullback in use.