New Solutions to Old Problems

Group of Robots and personal computerAn inspirational message from leadership expert Jim Stovall.

It seems as though we are facing more worldwide problems than ever before. While this may be true, I suspect much of the crisis consciousness is a result of the speed and availability of news reporting and communications around the world.

If we were to look back at some of the overwhelming problems of the 20th century, they simply don’t exist anymore. In the early portion of the last century, global pandemic threats of polio, whooping cough, and diphtheria had many experts proclaiming that human survivability to the end of the 20th century was in doubt.  In the mid-20th century, the energy crisis and surrounding publicity would have had us thinking that the world would go dark long before the new millennium, and recent health scares such as Ebola, killer bees, SARS, and even AIDS have proven to be manageable.

The speed of innovation that we are facing today is unprecedented and exciting but must be factored into everything we do. People under 40 who are working today are likely employed in a career that will be obsolete before they retire. The arenas of bioinformatics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, and neurosciences are changing the landscape and altering the future. Many jobs that we grew up believing would always require a human to perform are destined to be eliminated by robots, computers, and emerging technologies. While the initial reaction to change is often fear, we must look beyond the frightening aspects of these developments and consider the possibilities.

Many of the diseases we know today will not exist a generation from now. When the human elements are diminished or removed from driving a vehicle, one of the major causes of early death can be eliminated. Those who will succeed in this brave new world are those who do not avoid change but embrace it and even get out in front of it. Those enlightened individuals who can view the future as a master views the chessboard, will think several moves ahead and be ready to profit and succeed as innovation proliferates.

While jobs and whole industries will be eliminated in the coming decades, new careers and entire fields of study and industry will be created. The only absolute we can count on is change. We can never feel as if we have learned all we need to know or mastered our area of expertise because in the unlikely event we momentarily reach that mountaintop, we will discover that the mountain is growing, and new mountain ranges are forming in the distance.

In the final analysis, whether you believe these developments will be good for you or bad for you, you are right.

As you go through your day today, believe that the best is yet to come.

Today’s the day!

Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network, as well as a published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker.  He may be reached at 5840 South Memorial Drive, Suite 312, Tulsa, OK  74145-9082; by email at Jim@JimStovall.com; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/stovallauthor; or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jimstovallauthor.

 

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