We are rapidly losing an essential ability we need to survive: creativity.You know those people in your life that, no matter how much time passes between conversations, you always seem to pick up without missing a beat when you reconnect? I am lucky to have a bunch of them in my circle, and as I get older I find myself feeling increasingly grateful when we have a chance to get together or talk on the phone. This week I had the pleasure of catching up with one: Friend of Dave Ed McDonnell. Authentic and genuine as they come, Ed can always be counted on to give the straight scoop on things. I really appreciate our conversations.As we caught up, the topic of the FoD newsletter came up, and we discussed last week's preamble about the slow decline of respect in business interactions. We joked about how, as kids go from tween to teen, they show a similar decline, and their addiction to technology and smartphones is probably more to blame than parenting. And that was when Ed said something that got me thinking:Jokes aside, I'm more worried that the constant focus on technology and phones is leading my kids to lose the ability to be creative.While I have not been shy about sharing my thoughts on the negative effects of social media in this newsletter, I had never thought about it in that context. And Ed is right: even before they give up the pacifier, children are placated with tablets or phones when they act up or get bored. Their worlds are now largely controlled by what is occurring on the screen in front of them. And when they are not immersed in technology, they are either over scheduled or on parent planned playdates. Gone are the days when you see a group of kids out in a backyard inventing games that they self regulate. There is an element of creativity that goes into all of this that is rapidly disappearing. By enabling this, we are essentially creating a generation of robots.And sadly it is not just happening in the youngest generations. Music, literature, films, politics -- the more we depend on technology and what we are fed on our screens, the more we are allowing ourselves to get intellectually lazy. While almost everyday you can find an article, blog post or social media rant about how "robots are out to take our jobs," we are not focusing on maintaining and improving the one unassailable attribute that separates humans from machines -- our ability to be creative and to innovate.I don't care if you are in sales, marketing, product management, finance, HR, venture or private equity investing or executive management -- those that are most creative in their approach to their roles are usually the ones that are most valuable. Those that approach their jobs like a robot can (and will) be replaced by robot.So getting back to Ed's comment -- if we are worried about the role technology will be playing in our workplaces in the future, it seems to me that it is incumbent on us as adults and as business leaders to embrace, foster and reward creativity in our younger generations today. We can also set a positive example largely through our own actions and our use of technology. Now I'm not advocating that we eliminate smartphones and other forms of personal technology altogether -- I am just saying that being more thoughtful in how and when we use them is probably a good place to start.You'll notice a bunch of related articles to this topic and an equally thought provoking video clip below -- all worth checking out. Take some time out to enjoy this last weekend of August everyone -- you deserve it!XOXODave