“The most exciting breakthroughs of the 21st century will not occur because of technology but because of an expanding concept of what it means to be human.”
Late author and Futurist, John Naisbitt
In yesterday’s Exponential Possibilities session, with Club Futurist, Craig Rispin, we delved into a thought-provoking look at the interrelationship between high tech and high touch, and how the need for each go hand in hand.
Craig shared about his meeting with, and respect for, acclaimed Futurist John Naisbitt when he was just beginning his career as a Futurist himself in the 1980s. He introduced us to the concepts and wisdom carried by John Naisbitt who believed that “The more high technology around us, the more need for human touch… High Tech/High Touch. The principle symbolizes the need for balance between our physical and spiritual reality”.
John Naisbitt envisioned a future where the integration of technology and robots (and in many cases the necessity of them) in most areas of life would also lead to increased value of the human element in life and business. With qualities such as creativity, understanding and emotional/spiritual connection perhaps defining what it is to be human.
Craig utilises this understanding when mentoring his clients, to help them to harness the power of having both in their business. He worked with the attending Members to identify whether they would consider they were in a high tech or high touch industry. He then supported them in seeing how they could reach a balance of 50:50, bringing more high touch elements into high tech areas and vice versa.
He highlighted that if there is no high touch (ie person to person contact, relationship building etc) in high tech businesses, client retention will suffer, and if there is no high tech element in high touch businesses (service industries for example), efficiency and quality will suffer.
An example of our inherent need for both is the rush back to live events and in-person activities since the isolation and lack of socialisation experienced by many over recent times.
To relate this to you, firstly consider whether your business is predominantly high tech, or high touch.
Then consider the ways in which you could create balance by increasing the other side of the equation.
