Life’s truly important questions have no clear-cut answers. When decisions really count, the best solutions depend on many factors, each having its own risks and rewards. This phenomenon seems to run counter to society’s desire to have the right answer to everything.
Much of this is due to the menu choices that have been introduced into daily life. It’s human nature to seek closure, to have the right answer, to know that you are correct. You feel comfort. You feel secure. You know where you stand. But critical parts of our lives — personal relationships, career choices, and parenting — defy this expectation.
This is one of the major differences between digital immigrants and digital natives. Boomers and some GenXers who came of age before the internet developed a sense of how to solve problems and overcome obstacles without menu choices on screens. As they figured something out, they were rewarded by both a sense of knowledge and accomplishment, which resulted in newfound confidence.
Digital natives are not so lucky. Sure, they’ve learned to navigate through most of life’s daily tasks at a pace unmatched by those in previous generations. But society has groomed them the think that there will always be an option from which to choose from that’s escapable when incorrect. But the older you become, the more you realize that the big choices are both relative and permanent.
The point is that the more we reinforce in those we supervise that decisions can only be made when menu-options are provided, the more we inhibit in them the development of skills and confidence necessary to solve their everyday challenges. So what will you do today to help the people around you “think outside of the screen”?