Technology Addiction or "Extraordinary Responsiveness"

Technology Addiction or “Extraordinary Responsiveness”

submitted to the Trojan Times

Recently I was reviewing some material from one of my favorite books, “Thriving on Chaos” by Tom Peters. (I think I like the title more than anything else). One of the chapters is titled, “Achieve Extraordinary Responsiveness”. The content of the chapter focuses on how a business can get ahead of their competitors by being more responsive and spectacularly service oriented. The key was the speed of the response to customer demand.

This past summer I received a new Motorola Q – the latest light-weight, do-everything PDA. It is fantastic and I have been responding to e-mail with lightning speed. Okay, so my wife chastised me when I pulled it out in church and she commented loudly when I tried to respond to an email while driving down 41st street in Sioux Falls. But when it vibrates to tell me I have a new message there is just this irresistible urge to “respond”.

The last incident that sparked my thinking about all this connectedness and responsiveness came last week as I was watching an early morning news show on TV and the topic was “Technology Addiction”. Yes, my wife did look at me with that – see what I mean – kind of look. Addicted? Me? No. No. No. Just extraordinarily responsive!

As many have heard me state in a variety of speeches, I believe the keys to success in any field remotely tied to our information economy are one’s abilities in four areas. The abilities to access, organize, analyze and present information. I am also a believer that for a business or a university (yeah I know a university is not a business) to stay ahead of the competition it must perform better in these four areas. So how does DSU, with our very focused mission that puts us out as a model for technology infusion, incorporate this drive to excel in these areas keep from opening a “technology addiction” clinic? Hmmmmm a new service!

While I understand the need not to be consumed by the technology or overwhelmed by the amount of information coming to us, I am also convinced that our abilities to manage this environment effectively are a key to success. I know there are some individuals who only answer their e-mail at certain times of the day and those that basically ignore it for periods of time. We are human beings who are learning about our own individual tolerance for this new world. One of the real strengths of DSU is our commitment to examine our own responses to this technology enriched campus and to gain some insights on how this all impacts our work and our private lives. Examination and insight – isn’t that what a university should be about?

Well I need to answer my Q because it is vibrating at me and I see there are 15 new emails waiting since I started writing this column. I can’t wait to see who is writing and how many ways I can be responsive.