Metro News Melbourne - Newspaper Online - Victoria au newspaper south eastern Bayside Melbourne

Do you remember when you were younger and whatever space you had, whether it was your bedroom, a place in your back garden, or even just your clothes closet, you wanted everything to be in the order (or chaos) that you desired? And do you remember always being able to tell if someone had been to “your place” and moved something and that if they had, you were generally not very happy about it?

From this very early age we seek ways to exert more and more control over our lives and future. Of course some of us seem to crave this control more than others, and may start to use it on other people and things in an unhealthy way, but I think we can all agree that control is an innate urge common to us all.

Throughout human history we have primarily developed new technology to increase our “perceived” levels of control. These have had a variety of consequences both good and not so good. We have created newer instruments of warfare to control people, land and resources, and massive developments in agriculture to help us produce better yields.

The list goes on and on and on. And whether you agree with these technology advancements or not, the ultimate purpose, at least in the minds of the creators, was to better our lives through greater control of our environment.

However as society has progressed, who is actually in control? And is this control actually beneficial to us?

In the 1970s, in many western universities and colleges around the world, students were taught that their standard working week of 40-50 hours would possibly be halved by the great advancements we were making. We believed computers and robots would gradually take over our roles allowing us more free time.

Now, the technology breakthroughs we have made in the last 30 years have been mind- blowing to say the least, and the way society functions today is in many ways unrecognisable from the 1970s but, at the same time, the hours we are working have actually increased sharply and don’t look like they’ll subside for most of us.

As another example, let’s look at how we control what I consider our most important resource- our children. In the US today there are around 52 million kids attending schools around the country with about 6 million adults involved in teaching and administering them. That means about 20 per cent of the American population is involved with children on a daily basis. One of the technologies we have invented to maintain control over children is called Methylphenidate, otherwise known as Ritalin.

About 6 to 8 million kids have been told they have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and children as young as four are being prescribed medication. As a side note, school shootings and violence are on the rise, eating disorders are on the rise, youth depression and suicides are at alarming levels, while respect for authority and academic performances are on the decline.

It sounds like our modern advances are giving us great control in our workplace and with our kids!

I guess it’s obvious why I said we have “perceived” control earlier. We are never short of ideas about how to fix or manage a problem, but we are, more often than not, looking for the magical quick- fix and not solving the real problem.

Could it be that our “can’t sit still” kids are just striving for a bit more exercise and engagement from people like their parents? Might it be true that as our true motive was laziness when we conceived robotic technologies, that we were too limited in our thinking to realise the ultimate consequences of our creations?

As with most things, we are most in control of a situation when we are proactive and not reactive. The most well-adjusted, healthy and respectful kids are the ones that have been parented and exercised consistently, right from the start. The most harmonious, productive and happy workplaces are the ones that regularly, actively engage with each other and listen.

It’s funny really, but when we are not really seeking control we are more in control than ever!

Chris Jacob is a director of Jive exchange www.jiveexchange.com/metronews