I've had a bit of a revelation today. I've seen the future ... As I recently sat listening to third year students give their insight and advice on success in a digital world, two things struck me. The first - watching people not unlike how I was at University - was how quickly and how much the world moves and evolves. You want to know? I mean a lot, and quickly! The second was that I'm sure there was a time when I knew what was what, and that significant change generally occurred every couple of years. Today, the reverse is true; significant change happens all the time. If stability does break-out though, don't rest on your laurels; by the time you've caught your breath the world has move one and you're playing catch up! Listening to these millennials talk about the way they consciously and purposefully engage with Facebook (family and private), Twitter (public and professional personas), LinkedIn (mentoring, advice, job opportunities), Pinterest (private wedding pinboard), I began to reflect on how the traditional structures of organisations created by the baby boomers and inherited by us generation x'ers are slowly dissolving to create something more organic and fluid. Whether we are approaching a tipping point such as the alarming rate of melting on the Greenland ice sheets - a topic for another day - remains to be seen, but it isn't far off... Finding the right strategy to pursue is critical, as will be negotiating the path at what is a time of significant change in the labour market. Nearly every other student in the room has, is involved in, or thinking about creating their own business and digital is at the centre of that - upfront and centre. This has huge implications for the hearts and minds of every organisation today, and if it isn't on the agenda yet, it should be. Those businesses that succeed will be those able who manage this tension between structural solidity and liquid fluidity to their benefit. Not everyone will get it right, for many it the path will be be complicated and treacherous, but it is possible. And as I've said, I've seen the future today. Through our business consultancy and coach-mentoring services, Kapaciti can work with you, providing the capacity and insight to manage that tension and to work with baby-boomers, x'ers, the y's, the millennials and whoever comes next to make sense of the changes today's businesses need to make for tomorrow, and for tomorrow's business to seize the opportunities of today... and I include Kapaciti in that. Google the proverb in the title of this piece, and we're told that a person who does not settle in one place will not accumulate wealth or status, or responsibilities or commitments. In today's economy, that doesn't hold true. To paraphrase Charles Darwin, it is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change. | Nathan attended the third of Lincoln University's Digital Talk Workshops 'Success in the digital world' The Digital Talk Series 2016 is a project set up by Hanya Pielichaty (Business School Digital Lead) and her Digital Student Ambassador Group (DSAG) as a way to engage University of Lincoln staff, students and the wider business community in digital technologies and learning. The series is compiled of four guest talks and three student-led workshops all with the purpose to inspire and inform others about digital advancements and platforms in an interactive and dynamic manner. For further information or to find out more, head over to Lincoln University's Digital Student Ambassador Group, or join the conversation on twitter here @DSAGUol or here #UoLDigital. |
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