Bandwidth and Friction.......
We have long been aware that the scarcest commodity today is people's attention, and have adopted a variety of coping strategies - from "shouting louder" marketing, to fear generation, to interruption. None of them work for anything other than a brief, unsatisfactory and often counterproductive moment. One of the many unintended consequences is that trying to start something new, whilst maintaining a current activity is extraordinarily difficult. People just don't have the bandwidth.
This lack of bandwidth directly affects engagement. Engagement requires us to have a strong and visceral connection between what we do, who we do it with, the outcomes we generate and what we value - and that requires having the bandwidth to cope with it. If we are overly focused on one area, and lose sight of the others, engagement is likely to erode.
Another are affected is collaboration. Collaboration has long ceased to be a novelty, and is a vital component of thriving in complex, volatile and uncertain…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Outside the Walls to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.