The outsourcing of our humanity! An exploration of us!

Hi Everyone and welcome back to the blog,

Today I just want to explore with you, what I see as a worrying / interesting trend! And that is what I perceive as the ” outsourcing of our humanity”!

The outsourcing of common sense.

The outsourcing of critical thinking.

The outsourcing of an emotive / caring component to what is being said or done in work places and shops all over the globe.

The outsourcing of questioning the status quo.

Quite simply – the outsourcing of all the qualities that make us human in the first place.

So what exactly do I mean by this?

And what has led me to this blog?

Well – it came after my latest trip to the USA and my alarm at the seemingly robotic way in which people seem to attend to their jobs.Particularly in the service industries like coffee shops, taxis, hotels and restaurants for instance.

When ordering anything, you are hit with a barrage of automated dialogue that is mind-numbingly absent of any thought at all. If you actually respond with a question or anything that is not within the parameters of what is expected as the ” automated response” , the communication becomes almost impossible and very frustrating!

For instance – you may order a coffee and a bottle of water! And then you are hit with the automated question : ” would you like a bottle of water with that?” –  or some other redundant question already answered by the fact that you just ordered a water and a latte?

I found this to be really common everywhere I went – and whilst I believe ” customer training” and teaching staff how to serve the customer and ” up-sell” may be important to a business – at some point, staff also need to be able to listen to the customer and actually understand what has been ordered, asked for or said!

We have a similar phenomenon here in Australia when you have the misfortune of calling any large company with any issue [ think telecommunications companies, insurance etc etc ]. It is quite clear, more often than not, that the person on the other end of the phone has no knowledge of the industry in which they work and even less ability to assist you in any real way.

Their job is simply to deliver lines from a pre studied script!

Again – a totally automated response, with absolutely no ” human component” that requires no reasoning, thought, emotion or an application of common sense, seems the norm!

And watch out if your issue does not fit neatly into that script! Then you are really in for some fun and games!

Is it any wonder that so many people are now frustrated with life, on an ongoing basis!

Automated Responses!

No thought required!

No humanity required!

No common sense to be displayed!

Whilst we may strive in certain aspects of life to have an ” automatic response ” to certain stimuli, it seems to me, that it is a little alarming when our humanity becomes lessened with these ” automated behaviours”!

Behaviours that seem to exhibit no critical thinking at all!

Behaviours that exhibit no listening skills, no compassion, no thought and more worryingly – no common sense!

Behaviours that are simply – automated!

So I guess my call today is simply to awaken us all to the encroachment of these automated responses upon our lives –  and where possible – try to tone them down and deliver them with some thought and a genuine interest in the customer or person with whom we are communicating.

Maybe a slower, less rushed delivery, which allows time for thought and an accompanying smile could go a long way to lesson the pain!

When reading from a script or delivering a training module for staff – perhaps we can be cognisant of allowing some ” humanity ” back into the equation and explaining to people the relevance of what is being said – so there is an understanding of the script being delivered!

Maybe I expect too much?

Maybe we  - as humanity in this particular time capsule we inhabit – have gone passed the point of no return?

Maybe – critical thinking, compassion and genuine verbal exchange is a thing of the past in service industries, training and business?

But I live in hope that with awareness comes change.

So may we all take time to deliver whatever messages we need to deliver, with an element of humanity intact.

An element of thought.

An element of listening.

An element of discernment.

An element of genuine care and interest.

Rather than communication and responses that rest upon outsourcing our humanity to a script!

Maybe just this one little thing can make a difference and bring us back to our greatest virtue and our greatest gift to each other………our humanity!

And that is my thought for today!

#DiscoverYou #LoveYou #BeYou

And remember – we are all just doing the best we can.

Christine