Listening

Did anyone notice when we went deaf, dumb and blind?

Did anyone notice when we went deaf, dumb and blind?

I was struck recently by how many organisations have forgotten how to use the three best communications and information gathering devices on the planet; our eyes, ears and tongues. We’re relying instead on a plethora of gadgets in an attempt to glean what is going on within our organisations and the wider world.  This was underscored for me recently; and possibly ironically, by the linked story on a New Zealand news website of a NZ school that has erected a sign warning drivers to look out for texting teenagers.  The presumption being of course that they’re not paying any attention at all to what is going on around them.  The story made me smile; with perhaps just a hint of smug condescension.