“They’re either too stupid to see the havoc they’re causing, or they don’t care,” said James, former client and now a head of strategy in global shipping. “How else do you explain what’s going on in Silicon Valley?”
James and I agreed that Apple’s designs, as well as the firm’s narrative on artificial intelligence (AI) and privacy, signified good thinking. Otherwise, decisions made in Silicon Valley show mounting disregard for the impact of technology, notably AI, on society, the economy, and people’s work and personal lives.
Whilst the risks posed by tech are unprecedented, Silicon Valley is not alone: organisations across all sectors amplify the actions of managers and employees through technology, capital, networks, and other resources.
Easier said than done
None of us is exempt, therefore, from a duty to consider how we use our power at work.
Sadly, no clear line connects a given decision with later actions or outcomes. Motives have many facets, experiences are subjective; people are fickle and the environment volatile. Change has countless knock-on effects.
This complexity means that sufficient regard for decisions and actions, or products and services, calls for immense and deliberate effort on the part of individuals and teams.
I recently have found myself talking with clients about the value of being ‘thoughtful’ – as a means to navigate complexity and use wisely the power we have within, and through, our workplaces.
‘Thoughtful’ in theory
The Oxford English Dictionary (‘OED’) lists four senses of ‘thoughtful’, each on ‘having or characterized by thought’; abridged here for clarity:
1. (a) Given to thinking; full of thoughts. (b) Disposed to think about matters; prudent. (c) Thinking about something; mindful; having as an intention or purpose.
2. Full of mental trouble; anxious; sorrowful, melancholy, moody (rare).
3. Capable of thought; conscious, intelligent (obsolete or rare).
4. Showing thought or consideration for others; considerate, kindly.
We all encounter people who are not thoughtful. They make poor decisions motivated by narrow values or simplistic aims; they act for the wrong, often self-serving, reasons; they fail to see how their actions harm others; they worry little about any damage they cause.
The cynic in James says that intelligent thought is beyond the reach of such people, although, as they are conscious in the literal sense, one may yet hope. The same, of course, cannot be said for machines: robots and AI are in no way thoughtful. We forget or ignore this at our peril.
Thoughtful in practice
Dictionary senses are a useful guide, but what does it mean to be thoughtful in practice? Three interwoven imperatives stand out.
1. Make sense of the consequences
The first duty in being thoughtful is to invest time and mental energy in understanding the possible consequences of choices. Some effects are more obvious or probable than others, so this calls for imagination to see around corners and ask ‘Yes, but what if?’
We must take off the blinkers of profit and efficiency – the official tack of Silicon Valley – to see what happens when we assess performance against better yardsticks. We have to imagine what daisy chains of events might unfold: many scenarios are possible and each requires thought.
Whilst an unfashionable view, not everyone has the ability or appetite to think through complex situations. Any power to shape consequences must reflect a person or team’s capacity: authority without competence causes harm.
2. Consider people and society
Second, every material outcome affects the wellbeing of individuals and/or wider society. But, lost as we now are in a mechanised world of work, many of us struggle with ‘showing thought or consideration for others’.
To be thoughtful means directing proper attention to the human impact of choices. Beyond sense-making, we must show empathy for others.
Navigating complex questions with mind and heart, again, may not come naturally to everyone: should colleagues who have no time for ‘the people stuff’ be trusted with strategic or product decisions? Likely not.
3. Bring courage to care
To be thoughtful also means, thirdly, to care. After all, intelligence and empathy matter little if the final judgement is, ‘Screw everyone else, I am going to do what’s best for me!’
To look beyond the norms of shareholder value or career growth demands courage. When we reject prevailing ideas about wealth, happiness and purpose, we risk standing apart from high-profile executives and politicians, colleagues and even friends.
This third imperative builds on intelligence and empathy to underscore moral character. Character is perhaps the main factor in creating good outcomes through our power at work.
Finally, if we get things wrong, we should embrace, as the OED suggests, feeling sorrowful and melancholy: new directions may emerge when we are ‘full of mental trouble’.
Be more thoughtful
Firms that create, rather than destroy, value will be thoughtful on three levels:
- By nurturing a culture that recognises intelligence, empathy and care.
- By rewarding teams that act in line with the three imperatives.
- By promoting executives who stand for thoughtful leadership.
Robots and AI systems cannot make sense of things, consider people, or care about outcomes. To be thoughtful is to be human.
