The Power of Nostalgia
Siddhartha Menon
Content Strategy| Brand Building| 0-1 Journey Expert| CX| Growth Marketer| Performance Marketing Strategy| Digital and Real World Storytelling| Team Management and Training| Experiential Strategy and Storytelling
Friday, 6th December 4:55 am, I boarded a flight connecting via Hyderabad to Aurangabad to visit my alma mater for a 20 year reunion. While the 3 days I spent with people I met after 20 years was mostly a blur, it did have a very unique insight for me.
I have grown up in the best of times, it was the advent of the internet with the dial up modems and email being the height of technology, the paper clip assistant from Microsoft was the first AI tool we probably used. We've seen tapes change to CD's and CD's change to the Ipod and the Ipod evolve into the Iphone and as a generation we have seamlessly transitioned from one technology to the next, some of my batchmates are now raising children in this high speed information and content age. The interesting thing about our generation and this is just my opinion is possibly our ability to constantly adapt, be aware of what technological marvel is going to win over our world next, our generation is probably the most resilient, we have survived without AI and we are thriving with it, I do not see a better barometer of success for this generation.
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Coming back to the three days I spent with some truly marvellous people I can only think of one massive take back, I barely checked my phone. For someone as socially awkward as me and armed with an ADHD diagnosis the phone has been my escape from uncomfortable situations, boring conversations and just the lack of stimulation. The 3 days, I never once checked my phone other than for the occasional phone call back home or to document the nonsense 40 year olds pretending to be 19 year olds were engaging in.
I left Aurangabad with questions about how nostalgia and going back to a time capsule from all those years ago could have triggered behaviour that most people would kill to have, I do not know how it happened but I do know why (I think!), company and the space did it for me. My biggest take away is that we all need to find ourselves a time capsule, or in software terms "the last version that worked best"
I can only hope that you all can find your own time capsules or the last version that worked best, I know I did.
Deputy Manager - Talent Development at Deloitte | Employee Growth | Facilitation | Learning Experience Design
3 个月This is such a beautifully reflective piece, Siddhartha Menon. How you’ve articulated nostalgia’s power and impact on our behavior is incredibly relatable. I love how you tied in the idea of finding a 'time capsule' or the 'last version that worked best'—it really resonates in today’s fast-paced world. It's a reminder of the importance of stepping back to reconnect with the spaces and moments that shaped us. Thank you for sharing this.
Customer Care I Operations I Financial Services I CX Insights I Contact Centre
3 个月Siddhartha Menon very well summarised. In addition I strongly feel that once you identify your tribe it gives you that outlet, comfort to be you and drop inhibition when you in it even after long. The issue I see is one doesn’t know when they identify the tribe and there is no formula to do so too..