Communichasms

There is a vast and growing gap between the maximization of our issues and the minimization of our abilities to talk – and think – about them: communichasms. For instance, one highly-significant direction for language is the growing use of images and symbols rather than words. The impetus for this comes from several factors, including: (1) the increasing universality of communication, spanning different cultures and parts of the world; (2) the burgeoning human/machine interface, with its need for easily-understood communication; and (3) the “Internet of Things,” requiring unambiguous language between objects. While technology can enable the communications essential to organizational functioning, it can be offset by trends that seem to be contributing to declining communication skills – and to both growing gaps in understanding between people, and the growing disconnect between what we are faced with and the language tools we have to think and talk about them. To help fill the communichasms, there will be a growing need to focus more on design thinking, digital thinking, mindful attention and critical thinking.