Today while driving in LA, I saw something very real and disturbing that I have to share. When the light at our shared intersection was green, two cars were not moving. When I looked, I saw one driver, head down, texting, and the other (and this is a new one), had a laptop rigged up almost at his lap and he was not only typing on his laptop and also talking on his phone at the same time. Clearly, the light turning green was not going to get their attention. Once they did start moving, they continued typing/talking. Several times they could have had/caused accidents, and it was eye-opening to see that they were connected via multiple devices while attempting to drive.

Clearly, they were extremely connected with their digital devices while not at a desk. Something all of us are guilty of. We tell our kids, ‘Don’t text and drive,’ but we all do it. When the phone rings, we answer immediately. Texts are responded to instantly, and emails are responded to more quickly than ever. All the while we should often be doing other things… like driving!

Is this level of hyper-connectivity desirable? Is this making us efficient or so connected to work that we can’t think of anything else or process thoughts? Some of our best and most creative work is done when we have time to process, think, and imagine. With all of the digital connections, 24/7, how is this possible? How can we be productive with no time to think?

What if these two people shut off their multiple mobile phones and laptops and just took a drive and let their minds rest? What new ideas could they generate and how creative could they be? This scene today inspired me to turn off my mobile and listen to some jazz on the stereo. This was by far better. What do you think?

Disrupt | Innovate | Lead | Imagine