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In this series, we are going to discuss about the value of working as a community and collaborating as a team. This episode highlights the dangers of isolation and what it can cost us in terms of perspective and creativity.
Silos and Isolation
Our current work culture requires that we do more with less. This is placing increasingly burdensome workloads on individuals and demanding more in terms of individual performance. This tendency is moving the corporate needle toward silos and individual isolation as people cover their own bases and have very little energy left for easy collaboration. This work culture progression can move frighteningly quickly to territorialism, suspicion, drama, and toxicity.
The Chemical Equation
The current work culture is dopamine rich and oxytocin deprived. As individuals experience the temporary rush produced by personal achievement, they require more the next time to satisfy the brain’s desire for this rush. When the dopamine rush is not balanced by the connection and collaboration chemical of oxytocin, people become increasingly addicted to their own personal success.
Losing Our Connection
The same thing in happening in our interpersonal relationships. In a world increasingly inundated with “technoference,” we are beginning to lean into the dopamine-rich arena of social media likes and comments at the expense of oxytocin that is produced through personal connection and collaboration.
It’s Costing Us Creativity
By design, creativity often begins in isolation as an inspired thought or meditation. But the best solutions for a community or even a couple are the result of dialogue, objective feedback, and the refining nature of being in close proximity to other humans. In a culture of suppressed collaboration, creativity loses some of its sustainability.
Radical Baby Steps
Initiate some radical acts of resistance to the pull of isolation. Instead of answering the email from the co-worker around the corner, step around the corner and offer your answer in person. Instead of texting your lover or your kids in the next room, put the phone down and go tell them in person. You might end up having a legitimate conversation.
Tiffany Taylor and the team at Sparkit Marketing in Los Angeles help me look better than I probably am. They maintain and develop all my collateral material for these podcasts, including my social media presence. If you need help getting your message heard, contact Tiffany at tiffany@sparkitmarketing.com.
If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their businesses and impact the world. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com.
Until next time, lead well!
Bill
Better Together podcast series