Humanity is facing its greatest challenge.
The past 100 years has been an unprecedented era of social and technological evolution, with the last 10 years witnessing an explosive amount of change and disruption with the advent of rapidly evolving digital technologies.
However what many people do not realise is that whilst technology, particularly the internet, has been an amazing enabler, the real driver of change is connectivity – people having the capacity to connect and share information in previously inconceivable ways and numbers.
Buckminster Fuller referred to the 1960s as the decade of abundance, based on the phenomenal changes that were being created by satellite communications and the ability to share information globally, instantaneously for the first time in history.
But this is just the beginning. There are currently approximately 2.5 billion people on the world wide web, and yet over the next 4 years, it is predicted that an additional 3 billion people will have access to the internet due to current initiatives by the likes of Facebook and Google.
Not only does this mean that we will have 3/4’s of the earth’s population online, it means the number of possible connections and interactions increases exponentially.
This is both incredibly exciting and incredibly confronting!
The fundamental challenge is, that whilst we are all consuming the rapid adoption of technology, we are not being taught the skills to cope in this new digital world. It is not just about our ability to use smartphones and other artefacts of technology, it is about our ability to make sense of what is going on around us, to understand the changing patterns, and to be able to respond appropriately through making good choices and decisions.
Our key challenges are behavioural and cultural. Trying to survive and thrive in this rapidly changing world on your own is impossible (unless you are completely unplugged). The amount of stress that this creates on the human mind and body is unsustainable. Whilst we hear many people talking about ‘resilience’ as an individual trait, throughout the world, various countries repeatedly demonstrate that it is ‘collective resilience’ – as a family, a town, a community, an organisation – that truly makes the difference.
This is why at IMAGINEX we are focussing on supporting organisations and communities to develop two key capabilities:
Knowledge Entrepreneurism – the ability to thrive in a knowledge driven economy, and to work with diverse groups through the development of effective Emotional and Social Intelligence skills; and
Collaborative Cultures & Ecosystems – the ability to build truly collaborative cultures and connections, with people operating from a perspective of abundance, rather than scarcity, working towards truly novel solutions for Australia’s and the worlds most pressing needs.
Contact us to find out more about how we can support you to create these capabilities.
Comments