Thanks to an article by RooshV I got to thinking about the importance some people place on themselves.
His rant was aimed at BlackBerry users (I used to be one) that think they are important because they own a handheld device. I think the problem is deeper than that. I think that it extends over to cell phones and personal computers as well. Do any of these devices really make us better at what we do?
Last week I flew out of Reagan National for the fist time in many a month. I was stunned at the number of people that were booting up laptop computers to check e-mail before they ever got off the ramp from the plane. Did they really expect to find a WiFi connection before they found their bags? If a person is so damned important that they can't go a half hour without checking e-mail then they should be important enough to fly on charter flights, not commercial ones. I really doubt that a chump from Iowa sitting coach on Midwest Express has world stopping critical data on a six year old Compac machine.
Cell phones are a nice gadget, but that's it. I can count on one hand the number of truly important calls that I've made on mine. Most calls are just somebody that wants me to do something that they should have done for themselves.
I'd argue that all of these devices have only served to make the nation lazy. I see this in my kids. Instead of doing real research for school projects they just stick a few words in Google and hit the search bar. Then they cut and paste their way to a passing grade. Two days later they can not remember doing the project, much less what they 'learned' from it. I'm surrounded by people at my job that can only go "PowerPoint deep" in any discussion. Meaning they don't really know what they are talking about, but can drop one or two facts that make them sound smart. Ask them a tough question and they have to "get back with the answer". Which is code for having to Google it and use someone else's work.
I know that going back to a paper based day planner has increased my production at least four fold. Having to write things down has forced me to pay more attention to what I am doing. It causes me to think about what I am doing and to put it down in concise but accurate terms. That makes me better at what I do because I understand the content of my job better.
Do I still rely on my computer? You bet I do. And I'm still a wizard with Microsoft Office applications. But I don't use that as a crutch anymore.
Back to the original point of this post. Is the workforce better off now because we all have laptops, cell phones, and BlackBerries? Or have we just found new gadgets to play with? I think that the top producers see these things as tools, a means to an end. The worker bees of the world are using them to prop themselves up, and to impress the other worker bees. It's okay to be a worker bee. The world needs lots of them to survive. Just don't deceive yourself that you are climbing to the top of the heap because you have fancy toys.
Those of us at the top now aren't going to move over and give you any room. We're too busy getting things done.
–
TC
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I had more to comment here...
