What do you look like on the inside?

Heavy fog found me sitting in a crowded lounge at Sydney Airport when Tony and Carlo asked if they could join me at my table. After we had introduced ourselves, our conversation surprisingly turned to the anxiety many young people experience in relation to career choices and the future of work. This quickly led to a discussion on the pace and pervasiveness of change. Ray Kurzweil, Director of Engineering at Google, states: We’re entering an age of acceleration. The models underlying society at every level, which are largely based on a linear model of change, are going to have to be redefined. Because of the explosive power of exponential growth, the 21st century will be equivalent to 20,000 years of progress at today’s rate of progress; organizations have to be able to redefine themselves at a faster and faster pace(Friedman, 2016, pp. 187)[i] . To help us understand the enormity of change and the urgency it creates for us to adapt, Thomas Friedman applies “Moore’s Law” when contrasting the processing power of Intel’s microchip and the Volkswagen Beetle. In 1965, Intel cofounder Gordon Moore believed that computational processing power would double roughly every two years. Intel’s latest chip offers 3,500 times more performance than the company’s first-generation microchip from 1971. It’s also 90,000 times more energy-efficient and about 60,000 times cheaper. If you apply this same principle of change from Moore’s Law to a VW Beetle, the Beetle would go about 300,000 miles per hour, get 2 million miles per gallon of petrol, and cost four cents. If fuel efficiency improved at the same rate, you could drive your car your entire life on one tank of fuel! When the rate of change exceeds our ability to adapt, we get “dislocation,” when people feel they can’t keep up with what’s going on (Duhigg, 2016, pp. 88) [i]. If change is doubling or tripling or quadrupling, how do we adapt to it and help others to adapt?   Identify What You Can Control And What You Can’t. Consider what you can influence and what, for the time being, you are unable to. Stephen Covey alludes to this in his “Circle of Concern, Circle of Influence” model. Change takes energy. Focus on the relationships and activities that energize you the most. They will keep you grounded about what is really important in life.   Reflect On The Possibilities Of What Change Will Bring. Tell yourself stories about what you can expect to see. Rather than focus on the problem or the actual change itself, anticipate what might happen and how you might respond. Psychologists call this type of scenario-planning, “mental models"[ii]. Rather than become overwhelmed by change, commit yourself to the potential of what it will bring and the personal opportunities for growth.   [i] Friedman, Thomas L. (2016). Thank you for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations. New York, USA: Allen Lane. [ii] Duhigg, Charles. (2016). Smarter, Faster, Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity. New York, USA: Random House.

Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Joseph Nye looks at two primary types of change in relation to political and economic power.[1] The first, he describes as Power Transition. Literally, how it transfers from one state to another state (e.g. from west to east). The second change he calls Power Diffusion. Simply, how power is moving among all states, to non-state actors on the world stage, not merely from one player to another. He debunks the common theory today that there is a key power transition from the U.S. to Asia, as he believes we should emphasize the ‘Recovery or Return of Asia.’ For example, in 1800, more than half of the world’s population lived in Asia and produced more than half of its products. In 1900, more than half of the world’s population still lived in Asia, but it only produced about 1/5 of its products. The Industrial Revolution was the catalyst behind this significant change. Europe and America became the dominant economic centre of the world. It is projected that in the 21st Century, there will be a return to Asia producing more than ½ of the world’s products. Power Diffusion centres on the removal of traditional restrictions. For example, computing and communications costs have fallen one thousand-fold between 1970 and the beginning of the 21st Century. If the same change had occurred in relation to automobiles, then you would be able to purchase a car today for around $5. Traditionally, you needed to be wealthy. Today, you need to be connected and have access to networks and the flow of information. Influence and power have become diffused. Whereas traditional power tended to focus on coercion (‘sticks’) and payment (‘carrots’), Nye believes it is time to think more innovatively about getting others to want what you want. He describes this as ‘soft power’. We achieve this by focusing our efforts around creating a new narrative, rather than on 'who wins'. What’s the bottom-line? Nye argues that we need to change the narrative away from the rise and fall of countries—and for that matter, which company wins—as it is often misleading and unhelpful. New narratives are established through organizing networks and building collaborative alliances that require groups to define their interests first and become transparent with their desired outcomes. The focus is on a win/win scenario, rather than ‘I win, you lose.’ This reality is just as important for organizations attempting to build partnerships across cultures. With today’s dominant, all-encompassing media and online social networks, compelling narratives are fast becoming more powerful than the traditional uses of power in acquiring new markets. How well are you and your business using the art of storytelling to convey the value of partnership?   [1] Joseoph Nye, “Global Shifts of Power” (video). http://www.ted.com/talks/joseph_nye_on_global_power_shifts