Human to Human Talk – No Bots Allowed

The clock is ticking. We are not short of time as we do not have any deadline to meet. We are still in the planning phase. We do not have any definite sense of outcome nor clarity of how impactful each step may be. We are not treading a long-trodden path, we are paving one, brick by brick. Do we have a vision, a mission, some values, any culture to hold on to? Not precisely. We are just hand-picked souls chosen to be reincarnated in the age of data. Data is the new economy, the new product, the new mantra and all we seek is to trace some meaning out of it. Despite thinking and questioning it numerous times, we haven’t been able to answer the WHY. Why are we driven where the world is? Do we really comprehend the conundrum here or is it just another global bandwagon we all are so eagerly jumping on to avoid getting lost into the oblivion? Relax. Be Patient. Deal with it.

This uncertainty comes with the package; take it or leave it. What your focus here should be is to continue no matter what. Persistently pursue and be consistent to keep it when you have it. Being an in-born empath and a self-taught design thinking practitioner, I have some quick handy wisdom to help you hold onto this pursuit in this smothering metamorphic atmosphere. Just do not quit. Not right now.

Whether you are working in Data Analytics or pivoting towards it, or have a start-up to get funded, or striving to contribute into financial inclusion creating an ecosystem to serve the customers better as a bank or a fin-tech, or merely a department for innovation at an SME or an MNC aiming to hit when the iron is hot. Whether your languages are Python, R, and Scala, working with Big Data, IOT, or Apps development via Java and Spring Framework, or honing your Machine learning skillset with some sense of Augmented/mixed reality or artificial intelligence. Whether your goal is to become a Data Engineer, a Data Scientist, a Vibe Manager, a Design Thinking practitioner or want to lead one such team of digital nomads at any organization; Just remember to keep doing what you are but as a team.

To Digital Leaders:

All this data and all these humans struggling to predict some value out of it while forgetting how much a ‘healthy collaborative culture’ with ‘positive and happy people’ is vital to its success. I am not ranting about Millennials or the Gen Z or how the Gen X has been a total misfit to lead us so far; all I am saying we need to invest in our people, a lot more than we ever used to. We are in the vicious circle of creation, un-creation and re-creation and only with the right-minded people in our teams we can achieve what we mean to. We cannot be loners as leaders, not at this point in time, considering each one of us is hand in hand in the sacrifice.

At workplaces, with teams of tens or twenties, we can’t afford negativity sprawling. This may eat away all the productivity in no time and all you will be left with is a dearth of like-minded creative individuals who with the right amount of respect, motivation and all-encompassing leadership would have made it through this digital deluge.

Noah’s ark is what we aim to build, how can we pick a wrong pair or let one fall out into the abyss?

Sit down, pause, and think.

To Digital Innovation Teams: Stay put. Keep researching and sharing your learnings. We are almost there. 

The writer here celebrates humanity like no other. An inborn empath working her way through Digital Transformation as a Design Thinker, Soft Skills Trainer and a people’s writer. She can be reached out on LinkedIn at https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/mariam-khan-70803275/ and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mskwrites/