Simon says, “dopamine is dope”

Well not in so many words, but inspirational author, thought leader and speaker Simon Sinek blames part of the so-called “dealing with millennials” problem at the feet of dopamine-peddling social media.  Agreed.  We echo the notion that a disproportionate amount of time, energy and emotion is devoted to accruing likes and shares (not that kind) by those of us born since the mid to late eighties.  He goes onto describe how legions of us are zoning out of the real world, to spend more time on line.  It’s addictive and can be, if left unchecked, all-consuming.  And if it’s a problem in business (and yes, sometimes it is), what do we do about it?

Shall we start with why?

A well-known biology lesson derived from a 2012 study, confirmed to the world that getting likes, PMs and replies on social media releases the “feel good” chemical dopamine.  And true to its claim, it feels good.  And we like to feel good – especially when we’re down so we have developed a tendency to pursue online affirmation – seemingly at all costs.

But we touched on all this during yesterday’s Inspired Daily focus on overcoming procrastination.  The point to be made, absorbed and understood today, thanks to the thought catalyst that is Simon Sinek?  Good interactions, blossom into great relationships, which eventually bear fruit in the form of sustainable business results and oftentimes an overflow of shared wellbeing.  Sounds terrific.

Feeling good about business, can’t be that simple.  Can it?

No.  No it’s not.  There’s far more to it than that but staying with the millennial theme, Simon does go on to boldly critique and expand on the four pillars of workplace unrest.  They are entitlement, technology, impatience (or instant gratification) and environment.

Spend 15 minutes listening to this terrific and insightful sit down with Simon, courtesy of the Tom Bilyeu interview on Inside Quest and just drink in the common sense and logic.

One of my big takeaways from this is that we, the business owners, need to accept and embrace responsibility around setting expectations and building an environment where excellence wants to come and work.  All of that said, I would recommend this video as not only a two-way eye-opener but a bit of a self-assessment as to where we are, where we’re coming from and therefore, where we’re going.

Needless to say, we liked this.