Adapting how we think in a changing digital world

The title of Marshall Goldsmith’s book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, captures a particularly relevant idea in the digital age: what served us in the past may not serve us in the next phase of our journey.

Compared with as little as 25 years ago, the way we look for and use information, access everyday services, and communicate and engage with the people around us is profoundly different. Our relationship with the world around us and with each other is increasingly influenced by digital devices and software, mobile broadband and social networks.

Learning how best to use these is essential because relying on what we grew up with and experienced in the past is unlikely to serve us as well in the future.

But it goes deeper. We know that the human brain is adaptable and that repeated experiences can support new ways of thinking. Regular use of digital tools may influence habits such as how we direct our attention, remember information and approach problems, although the effects vary between people and types of technology.

Today, in the workplace and within our homes, different generations have not had the same experiences of digital technology. Their familiarity, confidence and preferences may therefore differ. While many members of Gen Z have grown up with digital technology, many baby boomers encountered mobile phones, tablets, Facebook and online banking later in life.

This can make living and working in harmony, within families and teams, increasingly challenging. It may create uncertainty about the outcomes of interactions in personal, social and professional relationships. The result can be discord and conflict that generate stress and unhappiness.

Openness and confidence

The good news is that we can draw on the brain’s capacity to learn and adapt as we reshape the way we think. We can learn and practise new strategies that develop our cognitive processes and make us more prepared to face future uncertainty.

That new thinking may help us have a more positive emotional response to people and circumstances and lead to more effective behaviour.

Learning new ways of thinking requires us to be open to questioning and prepared to re-examine our assumptions, habits and, where relevant, core values. Regularly asking questions of ourselves can create a level of uncertainty, but practising this may help us become more open to change.

Transformational coaching and mentoring

Transformational coaching can help clients build the confidence to ask those questions and approach new situations and experiences with openness. It provides a safe space in which to develop a mindset that may help individuals navigate future uncertainty.

Coaching can go beyond mentoring in specific techniques, such as using digital tools for daily tasks, and support clients in deciding how, when and where to apply them.

Transformational coaching not only helps clients develop their own sense of purpose but also enables them to rehearse the ways of thinking, emotional responses and practical actions they may need to practise daily as they move towards longer-term goals.