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For as long as we’ve been around, we don’t know a lot about ourselves.
Tasha Eurich compares self-awareness to space exploration: there is always another galaxy to discover. Or as the Tamil poet Avvaiyar said, “Known is a drop; unknown is the ocean.”
At this stage in humanity, we haven’t been very introspective. The Industrial Revolution has left us too busy building things and making money.
As we enter the Digital Age, that presents a big problem. More and more work will be given to machines, and humans will need to become more specialized in human work. But, 1) we don’t know what that is, and 2) we aren’t that good at it.
We are just scratching the surface of topics like human psychology, sleep, sociology, and many other topics.
All of this should keep digital leaders up at night.
The shifting role of digital leaders
In Industrial Revolution thinking, leaders are mostly task enforcers. But in the Digital Age, digital leaders have to become specialists on how humans work best.
Take productivity for example. Earlier, we treated human productivity the same as machines. How much work can we get out of them over a certain time before we are forced to give them a break?
As humans stop doing work that machines are better at (like data entry) and move towards more human work (like spotting innovative trends), the entire conversation changes. Now, digital leaders must create an ecosystem where humans are optimized for a completely different output.
First learners, then leaders
Digital leaders need to be at the forefront of learning about humans. They should be forever curious to learn more about how we work.
Digital leaders should be learning:
- How humans best function
- What stresses them out
- What they like
- Why they like what they like
- Why they need to rest and sleep
- Why oscillating patterns are essential
- What value they bring
- What they are bad at
- What they are good at
- What motivates them
- What makes them happy (short-term and long-term)
- Why they can’t focus for long periods of time
- How to handle relationship tensions
- Non-violent communication
- How to listen and ask questions
- What it’s like to be an oppressed minority
How to start a course in humanity
Learn from experts
Thankfully, there are people who are publishing very interesting things about humans. Digital leaders should be their biggest patrons and encourage them to keep exploring and reporting back.
To access this learning:
- Read books
- Listen to podcasts
- Watch documentaries
But remember that we are probably in the medieval days of understanding humanity. There are some things we understand, but there may be a lot of quacks out there who advocate for the modern equivalent of bloodletting. Keep an open mind, but check your sources.
Run experiments
Most of what we’ll learn about humans will come from experimentation. Run experiments on yourself and your team. Try out a new sleep pattern, or create a new work day. Try a 4 day workweek for a month and see what happens. Restructure compensation plans and measure motivation and productivity.
If you are going to run experiments on others, be sure to let them know ahead of time and put a time limit on the experiment.
Broaden your input
One flaw in our understanding humans is that we are all biased to assume that we are normal. And people who look and act like us are degrees of normal, too.
Students of humanity see similarities across all people, but also striking differences. As a human, you can never step out of your humanness to be completely objective. To counter this, surround yourself with perspectives of people who are very different from you.
Acknowledging your blindspots and biases. Audit your input sources from time to time and see how you can bring in different voices to teach you something new about humans.
Listen to life
You don’t get this knowledge by typing “learning about humanity” on Amazon and ordering the first five books.
You’ll learn much more by keeping your ears and eyes open as you have a diverse experience in the world.
- Read classic novels and ask why they are enduring
- Install new apps newer generations use to see why they love it
- Spend time in nature without an agenda
- Learn a new language
- Watch a foreign film
- Play video games with others
The trick here is to be ready to receive a message about humanity without actively searching for it. When you search for it, you often miss the larger insight.
Digital leaders as learners
As we enter the Digital Age, digital leaders have a lot of ground to make up for. We need to learn about humans, what they are great at, and how to best care for them.
The leader who makes a lifelong passion of learning about the human experience can never be replaced by a machine. There is too much to understand and apply.
Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash
For as long as we’ve been around, we don’t know a lot about ourselves.
Tasha Eurich compares self-awareness to space exploration: there is always another galaxy to discover. Or as the Tamil poet Avvaiyar said, “Known is a drop; unknown is the ocean.”
At this stage in humanity, we haven’t been very introspective. The Industrial Revolution has left us too busy building things and making money.
As we enter the Digital Age, that presents a big problem. More and more work will be given to machines, and humans will need to become more specialized in human work. But, 1) we don’t know what that is, and 2) we aren’t that good at it.
We are just scratching the surface of topics like human psychology, sleep, sociology, and many other topics.
All of this should keep digital leaders up at night.
The shifting role of digital leaders
In Industrial Revolution thinking, leaders are mostly task enforcers. But in the Digital Age, digital leaders have to become specialists on how humans work best.
Take productivity for example. Earlier, we treated human productivity the same as machines. How much work can we get out of them over a certain time before we are forced to give them a break?
As humans stop doing work that machines are better at (like data entry) and move towards more human work (like spotting innovative trends), the entire conversation changes. Now, digital leaders must create an ecosystem where humans are optimized for a completely different output.
First learners, then leaders
Digital leaders need to be at the forefront of learning about humans. They should be forever curious to learn more about how we work.
Digital leaders should be learning:
- How humans best function
- What stresses them out
- What they like
- Why they like what they like
- Why they need to rest and sleep
- Why oscillating patterns are essential
- What value they bring
- What they are bad at
- What they are good at
- What motivates them
- What makes them happy (short-term and long-term)
- Why they can’t focus for long periods of time
- How to handle relationship tensions
- Non-violent communication
- How to listen and ask questions
- What it’s like to be an oppressed minority
How to start a course in humanity
Learn from experts
Thankfully, there are people who are publishing very interesting things about humans. Digital leaders should be their biggest patrons and encourage them to keep exploring and reporting back.
To access this learning:
- Read books
- Listen to podcasts
- Watch documentaries
But remember that we are probably in the medieval days of understanding humanity. There are some things we understand, but there may be a lot of quacks out there who advocate for the modern equivalent of bloodletting. Keep an open mind, but check your sources.
Run experiments
Most of what we’ll learn about humans will come from experimentation. Run experiments on yourself and your team. Try out a new sleep pattern, or create a new work day. Try a 4 day workweek for a month and see what happens. Restructure compensation plans and measure motivation and productivity.
If you are going to run experiments on others, be sure to let them know ahead of time and put a time limit on the experiment.
Broaden your input
One flaw in our understanding humans is that we are all biased to assume that we are normal. And people who look and act like us are degrees of normal, too.
Students of humanity see similarities across all people, but also striking differences. As a human, you can never step out of your humanness to be completely objective. To counter this, surround yourself with perspectives of people who are very different from you.
Acknowledging your blindspots and biases. Audit your input sources from time to time and see how you can bring in different voices to teach you something new about humans.
Listen to life
You don’t get this knowledge by typing “learning about humanity” on Amazon and ordering the first five books.
You’ll learn much more by keeping your ears and eyes open as you have a diverse experience in the world.
- Read classic novels and ask why they are enduring
- Install new apps newer generations use to see why they love it
- Spend time in nature without an agenda
- Learn a new language
- Watch a foreign film
- Play video games with others
The trick here is to be ready to receive a message about humanity without actively searching for it. When you search for it, you often miss the larger insight.
Digital leaders as learners
As we enter the Digital Age, digital leaders have a lot of ground to make up for. We need to learn about humans, what they are great at, and how to best care for them.
The leader who makes a lifelong passion of learning about the human experience can never be replaced by a machine. There is too much to understand and apply.
Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash
