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Trends and Flows for 2014 and the ‘Shift Age’

Don't view the future through the lens of the past

Tripp Babbitt
Mon, 01/06/2014 - 18:26
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W. Edwards Deming is often given as the source for the following quote: “Managing a business on historical data is like driving a car while looking in the rearview mirror.” Deming actually borrowed the quote from Myron Tribus. The idea is that management should be looking ahead and not behind. Many fail to consider what the future of their organizations will look like.

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I have been doing a lot of reading lately about the future and came across books from several futurists. One I particularly enjoyed was called Entering the Shift Age by David Houle. Houle has a background in media, an industry that has seen huge upheaval over the past decade.

I have spoken with David several times in the past month about this “Shift Age” (past ages include agricultural, industrial, and information.) He describes this Shift Age as an inflection point that “will change how we live, how we think, how we interact with each other, and what we do.” He uses the metaphor of an earthquake to describe the coming change.

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Comments

Submitted by James Lawther on Mon, 01/13/2014 - 09:21

What is coming?

I think you are right Tripp, lots of change at a faster and faster rate.

Which means, I think, a rise in education.

I haven't been formally taught anything for 15 years, which puts me well over the hill.  If we want to keep up (which I suspect we do) we will also want to be educated.

James

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Submitted by mgraban on Mon, 01/13/2014 - 09:46

In reply to What is coming? by James Lawther

Teaching yourself?

James - formal education isn't the only want to keep getting educated... there's never been an age with more resources available for educating yourself: books, videos, podcasts... all available to you online.

There's almost no excuse anymore for somebody to not be continually learning.

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Submitted by Tripp Babbitt on Mon, 01/13/2014 - 09:55

In reply to What is coming? by James Lawther

Education

Thanks, James. Excellent point.

In fact, Mr. Houle points out that education is about to undergo huge transformation. The high cost of learning makes it a target for transformation. Do we still need or will we need "brick and mortar" buildings for K-12. And higher education is seeing more classes on-line or MOOCs (Massive Open On-line Courses) which is a trend that will continue.

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