Always On

Much has been written about the revolution that has made services available, both in the public and private sectors, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The Internet and sophisticated voice response systems are among the technologies that have fueled the trend and made it possible to shift call-center work to wherever the sun is shining and workers are awake. More often than not, the public doesn't need to worry about communicating with government offices during business hours.

A corollary revolution has occurred with less notice. The Internet and the growing array of wireless devices mean that people are available 24/7. Every self-respecting executive or wannabe carries at least one wireless device. The upshot is that the trend toward 24/7 government using always-on technology has perversely morphed into an expectation that people, especially important people, always will be available.

Should we rejoice that these important (or perhaps self-important) people can deal with issues as they occur? The answer is no, for the following reasons:

• Always on means never off. The boundaries of work in terms of time and place are disappearing. Important people, or IPs, are expected to be accessible wherever they are or whatever they are doing. IPs have little private time or space.
• We are losing the ability to be in the moment. One of the characteristics of effective leaders is the ability to focus, even if only for a short time, on what is in front of them. In every meeting, it seems, at least one person tunes out to answer some device. And that means having to repeat what was said to ensure an informed, intelligent response. Despite our casual use of the term, humans do not "multitask," at least not at a conscious level. People who are reading e-mail during a meeting are missing what is happening in the room.
• The immediate and the important are becoming indistinguishable, thus violating a basic precept of time management. Our time is controlled by those who have our number, and with the current generation of devices, everyone does. We are becoming interruption-driven, which wastes time.
• We risk making stupid decisions, and we deny opportunities to potential IPs. Naval vessels have a long-standing tradition of standing watch. The captain isn't always on the bridge and isn't even consulted on routine matters. The captain is expected to rest when he can. This also creates an opportunity for junior officers to exercise their skills and judgment. Lessons often are learned not only from what people did on watch but also from whether or not they sought help. We are burning out our leaders and limiting opportunities for others to practice taking charge.

So what are the answers?

• Turn off your always-on device for longer periods. Practice by ignoring phone calls and other electronic attention-seekers at meals.
• Tell your colleagues that you measure their effectiveness and your own by how infrequently they need to interrupt you and how they exercise judgment in deciding when they need to call you.
• Tell your bosses that you trust your staff to handle matters in your absence and are prepared to be accountable for their actions.
• Get into the habit of reading e-mail once or twice a day or, at most, hourly rather than as it comes in.
• Declare meetings to be "device free."

Before you think I am a troglodyte, I was an early adopter of cell phones and have every imaginable piece of technology in my home and car. But I occasionally turn them off. Too many of us have allowed the fact that we can be available 24/7 to become an expectation. That is organizationally dysfunctional and personally unhealthy.

At a meeting with an IP who really is an IP, I asked him about his recent vacation. He said: "It was wonderful. My cell phone didn't work on the island." Guess what? The world did not come to an end while he was gone.