instant communication!

all humans react to stimuli and the stronger the stimulus, the stronger the reaction. and it is interesting to note that this reaction is determined by the stimulus and we have little or no control over it. often management gurus like stephen covey speak of the "stimulus response gap" the SRG, the brief moments when we bring in conciousness to our reactions and become aware of the stimulus, the edfault reaction we are about to give and all accompanying outcomes. in these brief moments, the SRG, we choose our response and this ability to choose our response is what he calls is our "responsibility".



however, this GAP, the SRG is becoming more and more of a challenge given the age of communication we live in. in the earlier days, all remote communication devices somehow provided for the gap quite naturally. for example, telephone lines were fixed. so if i got a call from an angry partner when i was leaving from office and it really disturbed me, it would be some time before i got home and talked to him about it. or if i someone asked me a question as i was leaving home, i would need to reach the office to the call him/her back with my reply. this constraint in communication devices forced a gap of time before i reacted to some communication stimulus. and this gap forced me to think over the situation or the question a little and sub conciously i would "choose my response". however, in these days of mobile communication, stimuli are hitting us ALL the time, continuously, with no respite. and then with no constraints about time or place, we too are responding instantly, almost immediately...poked by the stimulus, triggered by sudden comments, questions and emotions. we no longer take time to "choose our response". as a result, all we do is react and since these reactions are not chosen, they are what is default, or impetuous or emotionally driven. for example, we get an angry sms from a friend, we immediately get upset and send off a reply, triggered by our feelings. our feelings controlling our actions. relationships are created over sms. people feeling something in the moment and not wasting any time communicating that to the person who is the subject of those emotions. people dont realise the impact of the stimulus they are sending to the other and what it can do to the person receiving it. ...at the same time relationshps are breaking faster than you ever imagined..business opportunities opened up and lost all in the blink and miss of instant communication stimuli and reactions.

now i am training myself to wait a while before i pick up the phone to sms my freshly minted thoughts. resisting the temptation to hit reply immediately to every email i get and to hold back from picking up the phone to express every thought that tkes birth in my head. instead, i am trying to take a gap, a deliberate attempt at slowing down myself and thinking about whether that communication is essential, what would be the impact of that and then choosing my stimuli and response more carefully. some may think that this may kill spontaneity in communication and make me manipulative. but i have noo such fears coz i have no illusions of being successful at all my SRG attempts...the SRG IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE SRG! here's to all thos leaks in the SRG and those few cracks where my emotions and spontaneity will get the better of me :)