We’ve all been through it. We need help with our smart phone or other device. We go on-line and click “support.” We answer five questions, click on the submit button and assigned a case number. A while later, someone sends a response asking questions for clarification. We respond and they get back to us with a solution that may, or may not, work. Then it’s our turn to ask for clarification. After a while they respond with the correct information, and this has only taken two hours to solve your problem. Have you ever thought to yourself, “I just had a simple question.” The upshot? Digital technology is slowing down our thinking.
This is the difference between what I call fluid thinking and mechanical thinking. With fluid thinking, you explain your question to a live person in 15 seconds. The person assisting you asks a few clarifying questions in the subsequent minute or so. You answer those questions and he or she provides a tailored answer that works. Elapsed time? Five minutes or so.
Mechanical thinking is navigating though the endless menus and screens which we now encounter daily. Wait for the screen to load. Make a choice or answer a question and click submit. Wait for the next screen to load. Repeat the process three, five, even ten times. Then wait for someone with answers to get to you. Elapsed time? I’ve waited as long a 24 hours.
Here’s the problem . . . All us customers did it to ourselves. Rather than taking time to clarify the problem ahead of time and consider the options available without calling, we just picked up the phone on impulse. Then we became irritated when there wasn’t someone available immediately to answer our “dumb” questions. Talk to those working in call centers. They’ll tell you endless stories about the thoughtless questions asked by those who didn’t stop and think.
The upshot? Service providers have developed technology to guard against these time wasters and we’re all caught in the net. The next time you feel like complaining about the process of on-line support, ask whether you’re part of the problem or part of the solution. As Thomas Watson of IBM used to say, “THINK!”