In the coming months, I’ll write, record, share short thoughts and explore issues, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends, but always with the goal of encouraging critical thinking and, hopefully, inspiring conscious social action on issues affecting small players at the intersection of technology, culture and ethical practice.
Years ago when I was applying to do a graduate degree in international relations, I was asked to identify and discuss what I saw as the most pressing problem facing the world at the time.
I was convinced then, as I am now, that the biggest threat to our future is a crisis of enlightened leadership at every level of human existence.
Aside from the obvious greed and moral bankruptcy fuelling many of the world’s current ills, in this age of machine learning, “deepfakes“, 24/7 smart connectivity, shallow thinking, instant everything and obsession with social media impact, mindful leadership appears to have gone a-begging.
Our New Normal?
It’s better, it seems, to be popular and wrong than to be principled and disliked.
Image over substance.
Speed over good judgement.
Encouraging critical thinking and inspiring conscious social action on issues affecting small players at the intersection of technology, culture and ethical practice.
Competence doesn’t matter.
Knowledge is irrelevant.
Wisdom? Overrated.
Principles? Passé.
Consequences are for the next guy.
Make it up as you go.
Truth can be spun.
Lies are what’s real.
People will fall for anything.
Self-interest rules the day.
Let the winner take the lion’s share and the rest what little they can.
The problem with this approach is it leaves too many at the margins of development, surviving never thriving in societies that are increasingly unstable.
Leadership that makes a positive impact on people’s lives is as much about the future as it is about the here and now. Good leaders, effective leaders think and act beyond the short term to imagine and bring into being a more empowering world for coming generations.
Be the Change
Yet, as history shows, the challenge for good leaders is effecting positive, lasting change from within often corrupt, dysfunctional systems that can tarnish even the brightest and the best.
Gandhi would tell us we must become the change we want to see in the world.
These Reflections and my social media push tell my story and those of people doing great work to reverse the trend towards ignorance and ill will that’s become the flavour of the moment.
In the coming months, I’ll write, record, share short thoughts and explore issues, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends, but always with the goal of encouraging critical thinking and, hopefully, inspiring conscious social action on issues affecting small players at the intersection of technology, culture and ethical practice.
My first series of blogs addresses the subject areas and themes highlighted on my website. Come check out …
- Perception is Reality – August 23
- What We Practice – August 30
- Planning to Succeed – September 6
- Living Up to Our Promises – September 13
- A Matrix or Trust – September 20
- Why Values Matter – September 27
- Learning How to Learn – October 4
After that, I’ll be posting weekly or more frequently depending on current events and activities.
Join me on a journey into the digital looking glass … let’s see where our Reflections take us.
