Conversations are underrated! We notice how little we have them when we remember the plentiful that we used to have in the past. To enjoy a simple conversation seems difficult to several of us. Yet, if there is one thing that we can do to get started with, to pull the world closer, it is having real conversations.
The Digital World
Technology has sure played a part. One part. Here is a post I wrote in 2015. I wrote back then.
“The trouble with an aspect like ‘conversation’ is that it appears very simple! It is indeed simple. So simple, that its importance is missed. Given the distractions that our everyday world offers and the preoccupation that several of us have with ourselves, it is not easy to have good conversations.” Fancy distractions have ripped apart real conversations. We lead busy lives peering into screens and indulging ourselves with the latest apps. All programmed to hold sway over our attention. These have numbed us of the need for real conversations.
Digital tools and apps offer us a false sense of connection. Connections on social media and digital tools are often bereft of conversation. Without having real conversations, ‘connections’ are merely access points to deeper conversations. The number of followers on say Instagram, means nothing without a meaningful conversation with people there. The presence of connections is no indication of a rich social existence. Rich socially fulfilled lives are enabled by having real conversations.
Think of this.
I click a picture and post it on Instagram. A colleague of mine ‘likes’ the same. Quite often, that’s that. Were it an earlier time, we would have taken the time to ‘talk’ about the picture. Sit down and talk! The like button is a poor substitute for a good conversation. Sometimes we transcend the like button and leave a comment. Or an emoticon as a comment!
The point is this: bereft of conversations, relationships don’t flourish. The Like button, in this case, provides a false sense of connection and can well supervise the deterioration of a precious relationship. The problems don’t stop just there. There are a number of other ill-effects in addition to lost relationships when conversations take a back seat. Our lives lose their sheen and our thought roads that dissolve into a slick trail and disappear into a thicket of nothing.
Having Real Conversations
Real conversations seem easy and are increasingly uncommon. We have somehow let our natural ability to connect to one another through a conversation, wither.
All is not lost. The good news is, having real conversations is a matter of focus and effort. Real conversations bring multi-pronged and exponential benefits.
Conversations fascinate me for they have made such a big difference to my life. I would even go to the extent of saying, they have changed my world. Without a doubt. So much so that they have been one key part of the work that we do at Flyntrok, helping organisations adapt to the new world.
The Superhuman Summit
I will be speaking at the Superhuman Summit curated and hosted by Michell Crawford and & A J – Alexandria Joy.
Now, there are conferences and conferences in the COVID world. But the Superhuman Summit has strung diverse voices and topics together for a new song. A song that the world needs for this time.
“Conversations that change your world”. That’s my one hour at the conference, at 11.30 AM (IST) on Friday, the 1st of May. I will be sharing my experiences in focusing on having good conversations and what that has lead me to. I am aiming to keep it light and tight!
By the way, my friend and colleague Stephen Berkeley has a power-packed session coming up on the 2nd May: “Amplifying your intuition in times of great noise”.
The Cluetrain Manifesto said ‘Conversation is a profound act of humanity’. The current state of the world is one more reason why our gaze must fall on the beauty of having real conversations. Real conversations spawn several new ones. I hope you will join in and then continue the conversation in your corner of the world. That is one way to bring the world closer. One conversation at a time.
May 1, 2020, 4:51 am
Pl add me to yr newsletters