Big Tech continues to have a huge influence on our lives, both personally and professionally and it is becoming increasingly problematic to know or have insights on our digital footprint and how this data is used and for what purpose.

Social media, web search, financial transactions all create a digital footprint

Today we have already seen how Big Tech can use data to try and influence politics, interfere with free speech and push its own agenda on may topics

Joe Rogan + Mark Zuckerberg
Cambridge Analytics

Before the pandemic, companies started to look at digital transformation to see how they could take advantage of the marketplace and become more competitive.

Start-up companies could take advantage of these new technologies and philosophy and disrupt the market and gain a competitive edge in a short period of time. This has had an an impact on economic, social and democratic impact.

Google, Facebook, Amazon – The rise of the mega-corporations | DW Documentary
Uber whistleblower

I myself, in 2017, found myself in a financial services company that was undergoing a digital transformation project which failed and caused that specific area of the business to fold.

In essence, this was not an IT failure, but years of neglect, corruption, coupled by an outdated business model and poor leadership

Today companies are moving at speed towards the cloud. Competitive edge, following trends (with little alternative) attracting and retaining staff are all part of organizational motivation and pressures companies face in order to gain a competitive edge. Many organizations simply have no choice and only have a choice of which vendor or product you either like or dislike the most.

As companies enter this space and take advantage of these digital technologies, they are naturally sceptical, cynical and treat each interaction with suspicion and scrutinize every recommendation, advisory or action that is discussed.

This is not a surprise, the first reality that most companies become acutely aware of is when they have lost control of some area of their business to the provider. This may simply be because they have to interact with the provider over issues they can no longer investigate themselves.

The second reality is when companies find out that the service provider is not willing to share all information about their service or product which can also lead to uncertainty, anxiety, impact judgement and decision making.

Longer term, when a significant part of the world’s economy is hosted with the big Tech companies, what can we expect?

We have already seen evidence of Big Tech influence information, politics and canceling those who do not fit with their own agenda and narratives.

Would it be impossible to think, not too far into the future, that if a company in any way does not comply with some form of regulation or does not represent the values of the provider they will have some sanctions applied to them or taken offline?

My opinion may seem cynical and unrealistic to most but the warning signs have already been for many years now. Big Tech companies along with globalists intend to reshape the world we live in today and are pushing ahead at an unprecedented rate.

The pandemic was the perfect opportunity for the Big Tech companies. This has allowed them to accelerate the use of digital adoption, increase their influence on society and enslave consumers to new norms.

As we move through, what will be an uncertain future, we wait to see how the world is further reshaped. For better or worse, who will be the winners and losers and what will the next innovations be and their innovators.

Reconnecting the customer experience

Since the pandemic appeared almost 2 years ago almost everyone has had to embrace change or adapt many areas of their lives to get through these tough times.

During this period companies have had to rapidly adapt their business against the uncertain future and increase the rate of adoption in digital technologies. During these times it never been more important to help customers on this journey and we should always be mindful that people are working in the most challenging of conditions which could be directly impact their ability to do their job.

Even before the pandemic occurred most business would of been using some digital technologies to communicate using email, telephone, video conferencing especially if the the company has points of presence in different countries. The problem now is that it has replaced too many interactions we used to take for granted, we have become unconsciously disconnected and unaware of how these new behaviours have manifested themselves.

I pondered on this over the month of November and December about how this had impacted me personally and what changes I felt I could make to adapt more positively to the current working environment and the people around me.

I created a list of all the things I used to do prior to pandemic especially all the small details and looked at how I could improve my mindset around work and improve outcomes

1. Get back in the habit of wearing smart professional clothing
   During the pandemic I fell into this habit of wearing more casual clothing whilst I spent my days working at home.
   
   Why?
   To be more present
   Getting back into the habit of dressing as you would be in the office if a shift in mindset, you are mentally preparing for the day ahead and using a simple but effective form of discipline that gets you in primed for the day ahead and your interactions throughout the day.
   
   
2. Start using my webcam on customer and internal meetings
   
   Why?
   To be more present
   Turning the web cam on demonstrates a readiness and an openness and that you are ready to tackle the task at hand. This simple act shows presence and that no one is hiding. One of the benefits in being able to discuss tasks face to face is our ability to respond to body language and get a sense of how someone is really feeling. When we understand how someone is feeling we can subtly adjust or interactions to improve the outcome.

The status quo

When the pandemic started, the use of digital technologies was beneficial in our ability to interact, collaborate and stay connected, but digital technology will never replace our human need to be in the company of other people or groups as a way of identifying and have a sense belonging, meaning or purpose. The less we interact with other people in this way impacts the meaning it gives our work and also our purpose in the workplace. This gradual erosion of interactions can impact our motivations and relationships.

I hope you find this blog enlightening

TheProgressiveLifeCoach