Adapting & Adopting

The supposition is this: we can build the future. We can make it happen the way we want it to be, not always on the mark, but we can shape it, tune it, improve on it. 

With that statement in place we can also posit the following:

• The future will happen anyway; but just letting it happen is fatalistic
• Attempting to shape the future is not fatalistic; it is normative
• The nature of man is to build one’s own nest – home
• The future is the landscape we can improve upon as it is building
• Our nests are placed within the landscape
• Our environment – past, present or future – is a learning arena
• We adapt to new environments, and make them work better

What has been and is happening is globalization of our cultures. Tensions have resulted as cultures are not only meeting one another, but also clashing and struggling for survival or even hegemony. Our livelihoods are shifting to new jobs, careers and all within new economic models. We are being challenged internationally on the basis of economics, ideologies and religions. Our lives are out of balance with our past; new modes and norms are being shaped; we are reluctant to adopt or adapt. We drag our feet.  

Is it any wonder that elected leaders reflect the same reluctance to adopt or adapt? They sense their electors’ confusion and follow their lead. Yet what we all need are people who will help us understand the new stage upon which our lives are unfolding; people who will lead us to better understanding; lead us to key decisions needing to be made; lead us to explanations of the pros and cons of each decision, and help us find our way forward. 

If no leaders step forward, we are still at odds with our new surroundings. We seek comfort, security. We ache for the familiar. Like us, others are seeking comfort from their stress. They too have feelings and beliefs; somewhat different from ours, perhaps. They have their camps. We have ours. Separate but similar; different with no bridges to span the gap. 

America’s model has been dynamically evolving for over 300 years. We have done well. We have met challenge with resolve and change. We have invented solutions. Some big; some small. But adapt and adopt always. To the new. To the fresh and exciting. Sometimes these changes have taken a few months; others have taken years. Some even took decades. But those were in days of slow communication; we had time to understand and learn. We had time to adjust to change and invent the adoption of the new. 

Today communication is at the speed of light. Information is at our finger tips instantly. Processes are fast, also. We make things quickly. We travel at high speed. We shift our points of interest quickly with a touch of a button. We stimulate our senses with many forms of externals – sound, smell, taste, physical pleasure, exercise routines, travel, sight – you name it, we do it. Not always coordinated, but always changing at our own demand. 

Adapting to the new asks us to speed the process toward adoption; so fast we are left in doubt as to our willingness to adopt. We pull back. We focus on the elements, the problems, the differences, the puzzles. What shall we do? What should we do? It becomes more pressing and we answer with stubborn refusal to move; not ready yet.

What will make us ready? When will we be willing to see clearly what we need to do to uncover the future and make it happen safely and constructively? Who do we need to help us with this task?  Are we looking for leadership? Do we think we can trust leaders to manage this enormous task well enough for all of our sakes? And whose sakes are those? Exactly? 

I understand the timidity. I get the reluctance. But times are getting critical. We need to get moving: to solve problems, to build futures, to get on with the business of life. I hope it will be filled with justice, opportunity and life quality for all. Reward the risk takers. Reward the innovators. Reward the leaders. But maintain quality of life for all. Give all people the comfort of knowing that together we can do amazing things. And it won’t hurt a bit. 

Where this will take us and the rest of the globe is an unknown. But an exciting unknown. If only we can get past today so we can enter the exciting exploration of the unknown. Not in fear, but with respect for the possible.

February 17, 2012