Monday Musings on ILLUMINATION — Fast to Speak, Slow to Think.

Speed permeates our daily life.

We are eager to respond, and too eager to grab as much attention possible.

Have we paused momentarily to reflect whether speed is the only way to go?

Speed has been highly regarded as the holy grail of business, social media and competitive sports. The first business in the industry to grab extensive market share gets to erect high barriers to entry and write the rules of the game. Social media has prioritised the speed of making human connections with the tap of a button over building social relationships. Competitive sports is about scoring as many as points as possible within a set time or crossing the line within the shortest time possible.

Yes, we live in a World where fast is not fast enough.

The 4G internet connection is not fast enough. The social media posts are not getting 1,000 likes fast enough. The parcel from Amazon is not arriving fast enough.

Our environment influences the way we respond.

I believe — of course, this is just one man’s opinion — that we have been “socially nurtured” to go fast even in circumstances where we don’t have to.

Take for instance a conversation with friends over coffee.

How many times have we hijacked our friend’s airtime?

I believe that answer would be many, many times and I am guilty of it as well.

These days we no longer have the patience to really listen. We want to have our share of the airtime and limelight as soon as possible. Conversations have evolved from a one-to-one exchange to multiple concurrent exchanges within one conversation. We just can’t wait.

And that has repercussions to our depth of thinking.

Thinking requires thoughtful processing of information coming from the counter party. Unless we are conversational chess masters in our rights, there is no way we can have a meaningful exchange without actually listening to the full transcript coming across.

It is just not possible.

With thoughtful conversations out of the window, piecemeal exchanges are now in vogue.

There are impacts to our takeaways. There will be a natural gap to what we recall vis-à-vis what was actually intended to communicate across. A huge chunk of information has been enthusiastically eradicated due to the pursuit of personal attention.

It is no wonder that miscommunication is skyrocketing through the roof.

I like to think that we can cultivate a sensitive patience into our lives. It doesn’t need to take too much time.

I believe in nature and greenery and it has taught me many life lessons. Nature is a marvel and it can only be appreciated when we lower our pace. It has a way to charm us into appreciation of Mother Nature’s offering. A walk down the park and we will naturally stop by that 100-year old tree which we associated with wisdom.

We can’t help but to stop and have a conversation within ourselves.

What if it can speak our language?

How many pandemics has it survived and what we can learn from it?

The lush greenery, that vine, the micro-ecosystem that it is support, that monkey leaping around.

A look to the right and we could possibly see otters swimming in the river, basking in the Sun and singing to each other. They probably aren’t that fascinated with the fast-paced human societies. Watching them playing within themselves in the sand is another fantastic watch, one that stops us and allows time to fly.

When we start appreciating what we have — we start thinking.

Thinking invokes depth. Quality conversations matter because it allows us to stand on the shoulders of giants and learn the deeper meaning of Life. The constant conversational hijack thwarts that.

And plus.

What do we want the attention for?

I paraphrase.

What do we want to be known for?

A person of depth?

Or the opposite?

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About the Author:

As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.

Because simplicity adds value.

Simplicity helps us gain clarity, and clarity helps us to grow.

And if we are not growing, then what’s the point of anything else?

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