Written by: Richard Rhoads on October 31, 2013

I have always been intrigued  by the stories in Greek mythology.  One of my favorites is the story of Sisyphus.  Sisyphus was the King of Ephyra (same city as Corinth)and was the son of King Aeolus of Thessaly.  As the tale goes, Sisyphus who struggled with chronic deceitfulness was banished to a life of rolling an immense boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back to the bottom, where he would again repeat the process over and over again for eternity.  No way out, chained to his circumstances, only to repeat the same exhausting process everyday for eternity with no change.   Sound familiar?

This past week while reading “A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix” by Edwin H. Friedman, I was struck by his research on the information deluge, and  its particular effect on human interaction as relating to leaders, teams and their respective organizations.  More specifically, I was captured by how this deluge of information in repeated excess, causes chronic anxiety leading to organizations centered around immaturity and selecting the least mature to lead.  The following  three  constructs emerged as key sociological flips which have aided in this deluge.

Social Science Constructs Have Confused

Information with expertise…  In a world of e-mail, text messaging, Facebook, twitter, Google plus and instagram, if we are not careful we can very quickly attribute the amounts of information dealt with or learned as expertise.  Yet expertise is something entirely different.  Expertise is sitting with one idea, concept, area of thought for an extended period of time until one becomes an expert.  For many today, the assumption is made, “If I have the information, I must be an expert!”

Know-how with wisdom… Wisdom has given way to know how and the quick fix.  You’ve heard it said, “Time is money!” get yourself moving.  With the information deluge, expectations and time have been compressed.  Years ago when someone would ask my counsel, I often would listen, pray with them and let them know I would get back to them in a few days.  This would give me time to pray, sit with the problem, possibly even check with a mentor about their thoughts and then get back with the person to give counsel.  Today, those same people will private message you on Facebook wanting and immediate response from your mobile phone app which keeps connected.  Know-how, fix the problem and do it quickly.

Change with almost anything new…  A few days ago in one of my undergrad classes, I placed a picture of my family on a power point slide for an illustration.  Immediately, one of the students in the room said, “you need to get a new picture!”  Now, the picture I was using is the one I have of my family on my Facebook profile page.  It’s about 10 months old.  I asked, “How new does it need to be?” They looked at me with a straight face and said, “Something I haven’t seen before, to look at something twice isn’t worth my time.”

The deluge numbs our senses, causes us not to hear God’s still small voice and isolates us from others!

If we get caught in the fallacy that all information is equal and that all communication needs to be responded to, we run the risk of forever being chained.  Not all information is worth gathering, just as not all communication is worth returning.  If we enter our work a day world measuring success based off the need to get everything done, collect all data, we run the risk of becoming like Sisyphus.  Ever chained to our desk or data phone, missing the very simplicities that often display and communicate great love.  Drawing us into the presence of God, then others.

Juan Mann the creator of “Free Hugs”,  realized after a season of numerous personal difficulties he had become isolated and depressed.  Those who he would once see and smile at in public, simply became objects to avoid.  Realizing his depression and isolation was becoming worse, he turned to visiting the Pitt Street Mall in central Sidney Australia.  His goal was to begin giving “Free Hugs” to those in the mall, realizing it would benefit them as well as him.  Watch how Juan Mann stepped out of the deluge.

About the Author

Richard Rhoads