From the Editor's Desk

Communication

By Peter Mitchell

It’s human nature to insulate ourselves during times of trouble. When the storm looms on the horizon we batten down the hatches and hope for the best. We rely too much on meteorologists to provide us with information that we can easily, and often more accurately obtain by simply stepping outside. And we don’t need a meteorologist to tell us to take an umbrella if the forecast calls for rain, but that is often what we do.

If recent world events have taught us anything, it’s the importance of being actively involved in the decisions and institutions that affect our businesses and our lives. The deregulation of American financial institutions in the late Twentieth Century brought sunny skies at the time, but we were blinded by the light and failed to see the encroaching economic storm that swept over the horizon. Only after the clouds broke did we realize that maybe we should have been more engaged. But this realization comes at a time when our over-reliance on the Internet can seriously weaken our ability to be involved.

There’s a synergy created from human interaction that the Internet undermines. A simple five minute conversation can be stretched out over days, even weeks when conducted online. We prepare our carefully composed snippets of information, hit send, and wait for a response that often takes hours or days to arrive –if it arrives at all. Not only is this woefully inefficient, the spontaneity of conversation is gone. The sparks that fly from verbal sparring don’t have a chance to ignite let alone blaze into new ideas, new solutions, and new ways of conducting business. Communication should deliver progression, not obstruction.

The Internet also fails to provide the regulation that constructive engagement requires. Whispers and rumours are too easily perceived as fact. Armchair critics throw virtual punches from the safety of their homes, easily sidestepping the countering jabs and parries that may be thrown their way with the tap of a computer key. The Internet provides a global playing field for schoolyard bullying, and as so often happens on the playground the bully is the first to run home when the going gets tough, fearful of the occasional black eye that engagement can bring. Compromises can’t be achieved, resolutions can’t be produced, and progress can’t be made. Noise and bitterness are the only results.

It is not enough to sit in front of our computer screens adding our voices to the cacophony of twitters and flickers and blogs. Facebook time is a poor substitute for physical face time. We need to disentangle ourselves from the Web and reassert out presence in the real world. Now more than ever, we must engage in our communities through our chambers of commerce; our political offices; and our media. We might get our feet wet and we might suffer a few cuts and bruises; but that is the cost of participating in the real world, and it’s a small price to pay if we truly want to improve the shape of things to come.

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Business Niagara is published by Niagara Magazine Group