by 
[we are guilty of] confusing rapid movement with meaningful progress.
Oh my … having truer words been spoken? We have discussed how “change is slower than we think. Yet countless headlines reinforce the prevailing perception is that change is speeding up faster than ever in our VUCA world.
Why? For one, fear sells. But I think the quote above is really insightful. It appears that a lot is really happening, but is it? It comes from futurists Richard Watson and Oliver Freeman in their excellent book Futurevision: Scenarios for a World in 2040. I reviewed the book here several years ago but let me call out one scenario from which the quote came.
The “Please Please Me” Scenario describes a world of greed consisting of crass materialism, egoism, extreme inequality, and the disappearance of the last vestiges of social capital and civic responsibility. It is an era of economic growth, free markets, individualism, consumerism, selfishness, and self indulgence, where people work harder and longer, and where greed and status remain key — and unapologetic — drivers of much human activity. It is a world of money, where successful people, especially celebrities, are envied and copied by followers worldwide. It is a place of luxury, displacement, and detachment, too — for those who can afford it. The past is increasingly irrelevant in this world that celebrates newness and novelty, and delights in planned obsolescence, oversupply, and over-consumption. In short, this is a world that’s all about me, myself, and I; a narrowly focused, narcissistic future where it’s everyone for themselves, and to hell with the consequences for anyone else. It is a world driven fundamentally by greed that, some might argue, has lost its way by confusing rapid movement with meaningful progress.
Oof! Pretty darn good description of today, ain’t it? – Andy Hines
[…] of this blog will probably note my questioning of this argument: Change is slower than we think or confusing movement with progress or the curse of the futurist. The core of my counter-argument is that when we do our proper […]