Blinded by fear

by | Dec 3, 2018 | Change, Ideas

At times trends can be difficult to see or only seen through hindsight; other times trends stare us in the face.  We live in a world becoming more and more digital each day.  Some call it the 4th industrial revolution, the information revolution or some other name.  What is clear is that we are in it, it’s happening around us, there are no doubts – it is staring us in the face.  Robotics, artificial intelligence, distributed ledger technology (i.e. blockchain), internet of things, etc. are not only trends by themselves, but the convergence of these trends are profoundly affecting industries and every area of our lives – Alexa anyone?

Yet I regularly meet people who acknowledge these trends, however believe they or their sector (the charity sector) will be immune.  Of course they don’t use the word immune, but this is what they communicate.  These are super smart, very successful people who appear to be unable to engage with the change going on around them.

Fear is a powerful emotion and very useful in some circumstances.  But it can hold us back.  I often don’t think people are fearful of change, but rather are fearful of being irrelevant, of losing their job, of being wrong.  I think the stability people seek is the knowledge or feeling that ‘things are going to be ok, will work out and that I am ok.”  Change challenges our identity.  Especially now as we need to make decisions, make changes, engage with the trends without any certainty what we choose will succeed.  And that is terrifying.

More than ever we need courage to embrace that part of being human that is an explorer, a creator.  It is not about denying the fear, but rather pushing through the fear to get to the other side.

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