By Tony Silard
At a recent two-day conference I taught to over 50 leaders in Amsterdam, we began with participants reading the ground rules. They expressed surprise at the fourth and most controversial rule of our collective engagement:
“Your phone, laptop, tablet, or other digital device must be switched off during the sessions. A phone ringing during a session will be considered disruptive, and we will ask you to put it away if you are using it during a session. There will be time during breaks for you to answer messages. All digital devices must be turned off, as they are disruptive to the learning of others. Please bring a paper and pen to take notes.”
This is guided by my belief that there are two types of thinking: flashlight thinking, which our screens pull us into, and floodlight thinking, where our transformational potential lies.
A Controversial Rule
I reassured participants that if they need to use their phone at any time, they can step outside the room.
“No judgment,” I shared. “I know that there is more to your life than this program. You may have a sick child, elderly parent, or struggling coworker who needs to reach you.”
Based on over 10 years of research I reviewed for my book Screened In: The Art of Living Free in the Digital Age, I cite studies that the mere presence of a phone or laptop in a learning environment obstructs genuine learning for three primary reasons.
- A 2010 Stanford University study discovered that seeing a phone or laptop causes stress, as it’s a reminder of everything you still need to do.
- It reduces your learning by damaging your cognitive capacity — even if it’s turned off.
- Screens affect everyone present. Using your device — even if it’s just for taking notes — decreases the learning of the people around you. Hence, allowing screens into a learning environment should not be a collective decision.
You’ve Got to Be Kidding
After the usual incredulous glances around the room, the participants grudgingly settled in. Over the next two days, we engaged in countless screen-free discussions about leadership including how to manage anxiety and loneliness in oneself and one’s team members, work-life balance, and the role of gender in leadership.
Following the conference, I received many appreciative messages from participants. They especially emphasized the fourth ground rule. It was the “first step to rehab,” shared one leader.
“What a gift the past two days were,” another expressed. “A break from the everyday madness (and our devices) with inspiring sessions and encounters.”
From Flashlight to Floodlight
As an educator grappling with these issues every day, I must add another reason. An idea I derived from Alan Watts’ interpretation of Zen Buddhism, I consider there to be two types of thinking.
The first is what I call flashlight thinking. If you turn off all the lights in a room and shine a flashlight on the wall, you will see a small disk of light. This disk is your next email, text, meeting, phone call.
The other type of thinking I call floodlight thinking. If you again turn off the lights and this time place a floodlight on the floor, it will illuminate the entire wall. It is through this type of thinking that we see the entire picture, our holistic vision of whatever issue we are grappling with.
Our screens constantly pull us out of floodlight thinking and into flashlight thinking, yet it is floodlight thinking where our transformational potential lies. It enables us to access our deepest creativity and to view the same issue we’ve been looking at for months, perhaps even years, from a new angle — and maybe even make a breakthrough.
Just Presence
For educators and facilitators in our current age of distraction, just as important as having knowledge to share may be the ability to be fully present with their students, clients, or participants. Creating such an environment is virtually impossible (pun intended) unless it’s screen-free.
Educators are not the only ones tasked with staying present in the collective search for truth, which is crucial to a high-quality learning encounter. So is each and every student. Why?
A 2012 university study asked participants to pass people on the street while refusing to make eye contact or acknowledge them so they feel what is referred to in Germany as “wie Luft behandeln,” which means “to be looked at as though air.” The people they passed expressed a few minutes later that they felt more disconnected from society.
Each time we bring people together for a shared learning experience, it is incumbent on leaders to create a non-judgmental, accepting environment conducive to everyone being fully present and comfortable with the prospect of sharing professional and life challenges, dreams, and experiences.
If we are going to ask people to leave their phones at the door in the third millennium in exchange for learning, we can offer no less.
