The world has become very intense and transient. Today you can be in a few places around the world at the same time, do business on different continents, from anywhere, and at any time it’s convenient for you. It’s no longer a cliche that the world has become a global village. Just think how a messenger used to have to hold onto his message for half a year, or even a year until he reached his destination. This trend can be seen through a series of events over the last decade, with the most recent being the coronavirus, which teaches us a great deal about the future.
The transient nature of our world highlights two things that we can learn from our current state, about how to advance toward our better future:
- That we’re dependent on one another.
- The rejection we feel toward one another.
Regarding the first part, we can see very clearly how the outbreak of a viral disease or eruption of volcanoes and tsunamis influence the whole world. This impacts prices, items are missing in the market, there is a sharp decline of currencies, sharp movements in the stock exchange, and many other far-reaching repercussions. It may take a few months for us to see the full impact of this latest disaster.
Regarding the second part, despite us recognizing our interdependence and wanting to organize affairs for everyone’s benefit, we can’t do very much. We have the desire, but are lacking a way to act on it.
On the one hand all of humanity developed up to his point. It was all leading to this. To us recognizing this contradiction that exists between us, and grasping how it is a very real obstacle on the path ahead of us. On the other hand, we are headed toward a new stage in the world where it is precisely these gaps that will lead us to renewal and feeling whole again. For the sake of this post, we’ll call it the old world and the new world.
In the old world we managed to bridge the gaps by manipulating the ego that kept reinventing itself in every transition period. It knew how to sell the dream to the generation coming after it, so they would feel they have something to aspire to and continue the chain.
This is felt in the current business reality even if we won’t admit it to ourselves. Now even a huge salary is not enough to attract top talent. It is becoming more challenging to recruit and hold onto high quality candidates. There are cultural and mentality gaps in global companies, and more. This would be a good time to realize that the real issue is no longer about products and technology, but rather how to find the perfect balance between business and social affairs.
For what purpose? Only to encourage us to think in more innovative ways about leadership and management in the new world. We will have to collaborate around this point, and see how we can prepare for this new stage.
We must realize that suiting ourselves to the new world doesn’t require any special budgets, great technological or infrastructure changes. This is about generating a shift in our mindset — mainly in everything to do with enriching our relationships and how we communicate. From the moment we form a wave of connecting business and social aspects together, the next generation will know how to advance on their own.
A great example is mobile attribution leader AppsFlyer, who bring their entire global team together once a year at their HQ in Israel for training and social activities. They create many opportunities to bring people together throughout the year; whether it’s for helping good causes in certain regions; for local training in their offices around the world; huge conferences they host for their customers and partners; their global employee exchange program; hosting special events for Holocaust survivors, and underrepresented groups; supporting the rise of female programmers and women in leadership; and exciting educational programs for introducing children to the tech world. All this indicates a great willingness to change and usher in a more balanced workplace as quickly as possible.
Originally published on LinkedIn.com