There are exciting things happening in the field of artificial intelligence. One promising approach is reverse engineering of the brain in order to emulate biology.
Contrast this technological wonderland with the linear perspective of the driving forces in business and the economy, measurements such as energy costs, commodity prices, and capital investment.
The linear view and the projections that stem from it assume that the pace of change will continue at the current rate or adhere to historical patterns. There are other factors, often overlooked or set aside because they are difficult to measure, such as intellectual property, computational memory and bandwidth, and knowledge.
The history of the impact of innovation on business and the economy is cluttered with examples of companies that dominate their industry and then get blindsided by somebody with a bright idea working in a garage.
There lurks the possibility of entire industries being obsoleted by the exponential pace of science and technology, and the notion that even exponential is becoming exponential.
Peter Drucker, the professor, author and consultant who revolutionized the theory of management, was amazingly prescient, having the ability to foresee the future. He has been dead for more than three years, but his ideas live on.
Peter Drucker
He was spot-on in describing what is now being experienced in the economy, and slotted it into historical perspective. He explained that society reorganizes itself every 200 years or so, and has for the last one thousand years.
The last time it happened was the early 1800s and it was called the Industrial Revolution. When these periodic upheavals occur, there are sweeping changes in all areas of society. A strong case can be made that the entire world is in such a period now, precisely as predicted by Drucker.
The current situation has been labeled The Rethink Revolution by author Forler Massnick whose Pulitzer Prize nominated book Rethinking the Corporation explains new ways to govern and manage as science and technology produce exponential change.
The threat to business as usual comes from a number of directions but especially from exponential advances in science and technology. Inventions that can change, even eliminate or create entire industries, pop up daily.
Long after the current financial has exited center stage, executives will be challenged to understand and respond to the yawning and growing gap between conventional, time-worn business practices and the breathtaking discoveries occurring in laboratories around the world.
Recognize that science and technology are advancing at stunning speed and can lead to a bright future for your company, or if ignored can put you out of business