Emerging Paradigms - Everything is Changing

Many of the issues or challenges facing today's leaders are simply symptoms of larger shifts that are taking place throughout the western world. We find ourselves at a stage where traditional practices, technologies and paradigms have been found wanting or have simply been replaced by new, emerging patterns. In some cases, we know that we want to leave the ‘old ways’ because they are simply not serving us well; but we have yet to fully define what will replace them. We live and work in a period of significant transition, of adaptation to new realities, and of creative invention of ‘new ways’ that better serve society and ecology.

The current generation of leaders and managers were raised in a unique era in Canadian history, one that is in all probability over. The assumptions that are now ingrained in most of us are a liability and must be shaken, even destroyed if we are to rethink and vision our way toward a more sustainable, 21st century model. We are not alone on this journey. Old socio-institutional paradigms are crumbling in every sector; together we are inventing a ‘new way of doing business’ … and a renewed society.

Any consideration of "what's next" in our lives, businesses and communities must be couched in an understanding of this socio-institutional evolution. The main elements of the transition are summarized in the table below.

Shifting FROM	Shifting TOWARDS
industrial values petroleum economy industrial economy metal and plastics machines chemicals/pharmaceuticals mass demand/production local communication independent devices separation/independence of microelectronics and telecommunications programmed computers responsive/rigid adverse to risk resisting change	person-centered values hydrogen economy information economy polymers, ceramics, composites nanotechnology biotech/genetic engineering customized production virtual global village integrated 'smart' systems convergence of information, communication and entertainment technologies artificial intel/expert systems adaptive/flexible calculated risk taking embracing change

Our leaders are playing out their short term roles in the midst of a long term transition that will alter every aspect of human life. Each element of the transition is inevitable, is proceeding or evolving at its own pace, and is championed by many, resisted by some. Those in key positions focus on the immediate and the tangible, often only vaguely aware of the fundamental values, beliefs, attitudes and social behaviours that underlie the debate about how we will use new technologies and opportunities and how we will shape future society. Increasingly, perceptive leaders with courage will champion the transition and utilize emerging value and beliefs as the criteria upon which alternatives, options and recommendations are judged.