"You Better Start Swimmin' Or You'll Sink Like a Stone..."

The times they are a’changin.’  -Bob Dylan, 1964

The only constant in life is change.  -Heraclitus of Ephesus circa 500 BCE

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  -French proverb, epigram, “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose “ credited to Jean-Baptiste Aphonse Karr, 1849

This triptych of aphorisms sprang sequentially to my mind as I began to contemplate leadership implications of technological change, after reviewing the week’s materials (see list below), and each rings true, in its way, when applied to the topic. There is no denying we are in a time of profound societal change. Though the pace has hastened significantly, even exponentially--and though that is significant--a state of change is, and periods of rapid change are, nothing new. And, though technology changes how we do things, and changes some of what we do, our defining traits and basic qualities as humans remain essentially constant.

Among the takes on, speculations about, and views of the future we examined, Shirky's (2009) epilogue stood out for me. It summed up not only Here Comes Everybody, but also many of my personal gleanings from the course. In it, he embraced my recurrent water metaphor (I promise I had not been reading ahead!) as he aptly likened leading amidst our current technology revolution to paddling a kayak, as contrasted with driving a car: no reverse, no brakes, no control of direction, and minimal control of speed, but, if you are adept and alert, the opportunity to make minute course adjustments, avoid obstacles, and, with a little luck avoid capsizing (and risking injury or drowning).

That image describes:

• Publish then filter replacing filter then publish,
• Empower and influence replacing command and control,
• Networked wirearchy replacing rigid hierarchy, 
• Increased transparency and customization replacing privacy, anonymity, and genericism, and
• Fundamental changes to basic societal structures we are only beginning to glimpse.

These inescapable and monumental changes present a mandate to adjust how leaders view, approach, and accomplish their task--and at their very heart, provide impetus towards increased openness, authenticity, humility, cooperation, and collaboration.

The ultimate implications for leading during this change remain formative and largely undefined. However, there is one that resonates with primacy and immediacy. How it is phrased depends on if you align with the 30% of people the Pew Research Internet Project survey found to view anticipated future changes negatively, believing we will be worse off as a result-- in which case it is, "BEWARE," or, if you align with the 59% who anticipate the changes will be positive, leading to improved quality of life on the whole--in which case you can add a letter: BE AWARE! (I suppose the remaining 11% are neutral; to them, we say, "take a stand!")

Personally, I choose optimism, albeit cautious optimism. I have been an early adopter or early majority adopter (Rogers, 2003) of computing and mobile computing innovations.  I had a Palm Pilot in 1998, for example, and today my iPad has completely and effectively replaced a paper notebook/planner in my day-to-day practice.  However,  I am certainly not diving head first into the deep end, without checking for obstacles (see, I can't shake this water thing...); there are still so many legal, ethical, and even simply pragmatic issues and puzzles that need to be worked out. That said, I am making a commitment to make some personal changes: to throw a little bit of my erstwhile caution to the wind, to trust a little more, online, to be come a little more comfortable with less privacy, to embrace social media a little more enthusiastically, and to make more connections. Do I think that is a good idea? Does that make me happy? Here's the thing: I don't believe it even matters, because that is like asking if would I rather drive my car in the river.

Some materials considered this week:

Wikipedia List of Emerging Technologies

NExTWORK:  Kevin Kelly Video

Corning's A Day Made of Glass 1 and A Day Made of Glass 2

Google Glass Project and Tech Crunch

KPCB Internet Trends Slideshare

References:

Rogers, E. (2003).  Diffusion of innovation (5th Ed).  New York:  Free Press.
Shirky, C. (2009).  Here comes everybody. New York:  Penguin Books.