Warm Up Activity

Je’Vaughn Osgood

MIS 320

Kathy Davidson, the author of Now You See It is interviewed on the science of attention and addresses attention blindness. She compares attention blindness to the simulation flights of pilots that navigate well, but fell to notice that they landed on an airline carrier when landing the plane. People are so focused on the obvious that they don’t notice what they didn’t plan on seeing. If People can learn to see collectively as a team, they can counter attention blindness. Multitasking can aid in attention blindness, because when you lose focus on the expected it enables you to see the unexpected. The human brain rapidly switches from one task to another and there are internal and external distractions, but social media can serve as an enhancer. Productivity is increased when people multitask, which gives the brain a boost.

Anthony J. Bradley, the author of Social Strategies that Work is interviewed. Social technologies have evolved and can contribute to the business world. A company can increase their power in the market by collaborating with social media. There is a misconception about social technologies games in that they are just for wasting time. However, people are reconnecting, establishing relationships, and gaining new customers for their companies. Social gaming builds an entertaining and relaxing environment that increases efforts at work. Although some businesses discourage the thought of fun at work, some business organizations are on the verge of exploring more of their technological capabilities. Companies need to get the community to respond by finding what’s meaningful to them.

These two ideas will influence businesses to transform their ideas of multitasking and social media technologies. Business organizations can now encourage their employees to work together through social media so their productivity can increase. Business organizations also have the opportunity to establish better relationships between customers and other businesses through social media. In order to fill the gap, a consulting firm could help advise companies on the importance of creating a creative environment for employees to avoid attention blindness. They could also advise companies on how to establish business relationships through social technologies.