Cyberback Professional

I‘ve been a stay-at-home professional for half a year already and find myself in something a bit like the ‘cyberspace’ which author William Gibson wrote about. On the phone, in chats, in virtual meetings, digital whiteboards and shared ‘boxes’ sitting on multiclouds somewhere. Got me thinking of how I got into the industry way back then on the e-collaboration ticket. Together with my other fresh-faced colleagues I enthusiastically evangelised and tailored digital tools to clients, convinced that we were involved in a movement that would change the world. And I must admit that while I was exited about it all I still didn’t really understand how much everything would change as these tools continued to evolve. 

The stuff I’ve now got helping me perform my tasks, communicate and collaborate while sitting in my favourite corner of the sofa is awesome. And the biggest improvement in my opinion is how intuitive everything nowadays is. As a staunch believer in learning by doing I actually don’t get the tools in a twist with my haphazard menu choices. They just gently set me straight and let me succeed despite myself. Definitely wasn’t like that in the past when I could get anything to lock up real good in no time at all.

The office work revolution I anticipated but it became so much more. Saw that so clearly when I accompanied my daughter this weekend to help her settle in for exchange studies abroad. I admit I was slightly worried about how she’d fare, having to leave her by herself in a little dorm room in the middle of a sprawling complex all made out of red bricks and informative signs. Luckily my concerns were totally unnecessary. Within an hour after packing up she’d digitally connected with her new fellow students, tutors and teachers and had agreed meet-ups for the next couple of days, using variations of the same tools that I’ve got for work. I got ditched already the same evening and that, that was the best thing that could have happened to an overanxious dad!

On the return flight I thought back on all the moments when I’ve had to leave her at the different instances of education on her way to growing up. From the playground through daycare, preschool, primary, secondary, university to this, her newest chapter. Which, already thousands of kilometres behind the Airbus tail, would have been a much bigger hurdle hadn’t she stood her ground with her ubiquitous ever present phone as a much smaller, but already tough, girl. Boy am I now happy that I lost the argument about excessive use of the phone! Defying me she regardless pushed on to became fluent in the ways of how to enhance her relationships, seamlessly blending interactions in the digital and physical worlds so that they became a single one. Today’s world. 

About time I get better in that world too. I who even had a bit of a hand in making it happen, as had all of us in the industry. We built a world that transcends the one we knew as young adults. One where my daughter together with others of her age now swim effortlessly because, they were born into it. But darn it if I couldn’t do something more me too. Blending and mixing my presence in the different dimensions and making them into one whole, like the younger generation. Maybe even form an own ‘channel’ for my now long time colleagues and mix in a bit of physical meet-ups. Would be nice to reminisce about how we actually did succeed in changing the world. And what we’ll change next to make it even better, for us and our kids.