Lifebombing: Blog by Ric Lewis, CEO Tristan Capital Partners

Some companies have mission statements, others have codes of conduct. Tristan Capital Partners has a set of 12 Guiding Principles which Tristan's CEO Ric Lewis believes fundamentally shapes its culture and how the firm operates. In the first of a series of blogs for PropertyEU, Lewis reflects on the intersections of life and work, the virtual and actual worlds, and the odd sports, music and social moments that make them meaningful.

What is lifebombing, you may ask? Well, I’ve hijacked the term from 'photobombing', where someone other than the intended subject in a photograph jumps into the frame to intrude on the shot. As a matter of personal protest, I have started to invade the digital trance of my colleagues and friends by stepping into their paths as they trudge face down, glued to their phones or tablets, completely unaware that my large frame was blocking their forward motion. They have to pause. 'Hey,' I say. 'You’ve been life-bombed.' There’s a real life in front of you. Come back to the real world.

Let me explain. And, to lend early credibility to my parable, here are a few facts that have shaped my observations:
- The average person in the UK checks their phone over 100 times a day; the most frequent users check their device as much as every seven seconds!
- The average owner uses their device for 3 hours, 16 minutes a day; almost one day per week. This figure is up almost 10% from a year ago.
- We spend on average 97 minutes a day with our partners, one third less time than we spend on our phones!
- 33% of UK children under two years old regularly use a mobile device. One in three children use a phone or tablet before they can speak!
- Personal smartphones are becoming the ‘go-to’ gadget, replacing desktops and laptops, and individuals are processing upwards of 140 tasks on them in a typical day.

Addicts to cyber-life
So everyone is super-connected; we’re all packing multiple handhelds, phones, computers and i-paraphernalia. In the streets, on trains, in shops, restaurants, and even in our own homes. People are digitized and de-sensitized to the real life washing around them. We are wired up to the detriment of real engagement, enjoyment and empowerment.

We are all becoming subconscious addicts to a cyber-life, willingly forfeiting the real thing.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not a curmudgeon who resists technological advancement and all of the fantastic benefits derived from it. On the contrary, I’m an adopter. New tech is exciting, useful and productive and I believe it most assuredly has helped business and society take giant strides forward.
The digital age has given us great efficiency. Ideas and information go from concept to handheld in the blink of an eye.

But, our adaptive capacity is remarkable. I can be talking to someone while reading texts, snaps or email and listening to music. I’m teaching myself to not pay 100% attention to anything! My real problem with this is that the world now considers this normal, not only tolerated. Most worryingly, I’ve become increasingly good at it. I wish I weren’t.

Don't forget the real world!
In our rapidly engrossing cyber trance, we are sacrificing reading a book or newspaper and paying attention to slower versions of everyday life, including the most important ones: interacting eye-to-eye, face-to-face with the person in front of us, the opportunity to exchange views, opinions, and perspectives.
Mesmerized by the stuff pushed out by ever faster and more engaging connectivity, we are missing the everyday graces of human existence, trading 140-digit flashes of ‘fake’ life for real life.

Such entertainment may be harmless, largely irrelevant in and of itself. Yet its importance has been artificially inflated to a point where it confers social status and daily importance. There is an inescapable and relentless effort to keep checking, keep monitoring, and to keep up, essentially blocking the important real life skills and graces that develop in the real world. Consider the detriment of this to our human existence, our community and certainly to what we do every day for a living.

In the workplace, I notice all too often how many of us struggle to express a point coherently without the back-up of numbers and graphics. It seems far easier and more comfortable for many to deploy data, infographics, video and charts. The saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words. But is it? How do you grow a business if people can’t talk to each other, express themselves, read personalities and demeanour, and offer different perspectives?

We are losing our storytellers, the ability to communicate effectively without emojis, icons and hashtags.

Bring back some 'old school' I say. Subject. Verb. Full Stop. Communicate!

Strike three. I love you. Your horse won. Mother’s dead.

Have a point of view. Get it across. Show me your character and personality!

Information is no longer a competitive advantage
One of the benefits of our cyberworld is that the possession of information is no longer a competitive advantage. Access to information is universal. The real magic, the really important thing, is what you do with the information. And that requires judgment, the sum of the knowledge derived from all of our real life’s interactions, the outcome of our personal learning store.

Assessing character and judgment is critical to what we do; in life and in business. The fact that people are losing the ability to do this is a concern. It should be a concern to all of us. Digital noise poses a threat to the evolution of our judgment, that powerful force comprised of all the visual, emotional and subliminal signals that come from repeat, direct first-person human interaction.

Cyber chatter is teaching us it is not that important to focus on the person next to you, that a slice of engagement is enough, that we can be allocated productively to multiple functions. But at what cost?!

So, that brings me back to lifebombing, my slightly obnoxious and playful way to get people to re-join real life around them. Despite all the wonderful advantages of the digital age and all the ways that it helps us live, there is a growing danger that people replace flash comment, fast facts and noise for judgment and perspective; that they replace real experiences and memories with selfies and tweets.

Embrace and use technology but make certain that it is not an invasion when it should be an improvement. Approach each moment with full and present consciousness, or at least, try to!

Look, consider, assess and filter the digital noise pushed at you. Real life is not a distraction, and the judgment it nurtures is a powerful personal and business asset. Do your friends a favour – go lifebomb someone today!

Ric Lewis
CEO Tristan Capital Partners