The Inspire Podcast

The Future of Leadership is... Analog? with David Sax

Written by Bart Egnal | Mar 20, 2023 3:00:00 PM

Despite the promise of a digital future, staff and leaders are increasingly seeking human connection. In this conversation author David Sax discusses why analog has proven so durable in a world filled with the promises of a digital transformation. He explains why being in person is something that calls to us, what leaders should do to maximize connection in a hybrid world, and lessons for those still feeling too stuck on screens (or listening to podcasts on headphones!) 

00:44 Show Intro

01:22 Welcoming David

02:22 Early childhood experiences with computers

03:49 The last generation that grew up without being always digitally connected

04:28 Covid era digital experiences - not so good

05:49 Book: Revenge of analog

06:57 Writing the new book during the pandemic

07:07 Questions he was getting at the beginning of the pandemic

09:51 Covid was a test drive of a digital future

10:24 Work world - should we go back to the office?

10:56 Unknown future

11:34 Different for everyone and every company

12:27 Difficult to find the new mix of digital vs analog

12:41 Accept that it is really difficult to get the mix right

13:40 No binary solutions to the question of how to work

14:05 Cost of going into the office and the cost of not going into the office

15:40 Embodied cognition

17:28 Burnout, zoom fatigue, dislocation

18:15 Generational differences

21:19 People just want SOME flexibility

22:13 19th century model, not a fit

23:50 Advice to people to navigate around this

25:07 What do you like and dislike about coming into the office?

26:13 Figure out what is working and what isn't

26:48 Do limited experiments

27:16 Gather data

27:59 Simplest way to inject more analog goodness into their life

28:16 Get away from the screen

29:41 Thank yous

30:22 Outro