Today I left my mobile phone at home.   And experienced what all has changed in the last 5 years all because of my smartphone - combined with applications and ubiquitous connectivity...

• I make my to-do lists in the “notes” section of my iPhone – no more little paper notebook
• I check my hair using the front facing camera as a little mirror - thank you Apple for that innovation – no more little hand mirror in my purse
• I no longer wear a watch – guess what I use to check the time...
• I fill commuting time checking on news and views and engaging in social networks
• I text and mail while on the move

And – yes, I do also use my mobile to make phone calls.

Today mobile-free me caught the bus. And looked around at everyone playing  with their phones. There were still a few – but very few – people doing what people used to do on the bus – chat, read or look out of the window.  Sitting in a bus without my phone in my hand made me feel vaguely uncomfortable – whereas 5 years ago I would only have taken my phone out of my purse if it rang and otherwise not kept it in my hand all the time like some sort of digital security blanket. 

Sweden is ranked #1 in the World ICT Index. No doubt one of the reasons this is such a very digital and connected lifestyle.However the changes caused in people’s ways of working due to digitalisation sets imperatives on companies to keep up with the changing behavior of their employees. I was a speaker at an SAP Mobility conference earlier this week in Stockholm and picked up a slide I had shared about 18 months ago, where I talked about the changes we could expect to see in the Information, Communication and Technology industry in 2016. I realized that the speed of change had been much faster than anyone had expected or predicted. So the changes I talked about in the picture below, made in 2012 – are still relevant. But the changes are happening/have happened already. 

The speed of change is exponential at present.

• I read an article recently that said that the introduction and uptake of tablets was faster than the uptake of electricity. I found that article interesting and wanted to share it – and so I emailed the author and got permission within 12 hours to go ahead and use it.
• Facebook was predicted to reach a billion users by yearend. New estimates put it to be during this month – around 20% ahead of time.
• More than a billion tweets are sent on Twitter – per week.

This in turn is influencing human behavior. More and more emails, Facebook statuses, tweets, webpages, texts, video chat … oh and of course the old fashioned voice phone calls. Being proactive and planning time for oneself becomes imperative. This will probably be the golden age of time management consultants.  And CRM. Because the impact of this high speed society is seen in customer demands on businesses. While companies are all struggling to improve customer experience as quickly as they can, customers are increasingly demanding a response at the speed of Twitter.

Did this sound like a familiar scenario to you in your own life? Where are you on the digital adoption curve?