On my website has been the phrase “Committed to success through integrity and innovation” for several years. One might find it odd to mix a technical term, such as ‘innovation’ with a more heartfelt word, like ‘integrity’. I believe the two of them to be equally important to each other. Life without integrity is flaky and lacks character. Live without innovation lacks change and excitement.
There’s a very simple reason to innovate. The movers and shakers of the world are doing so and have little regard for your well-being. That’s a fact. As millions of years of combined collective experience were flushed down the drain, replaced by their robotic counterparts, the automotive industry forged ahead without the need for minimally-educated blue-collar operators. Many people cried “foul” for a short time. It’s no longer blue collar employees that are getting replaced by robotic/foreign counterparts.
One has to pay attention to the fact that Khan Academy is teaching students far better than a majority of ‘real’ teachers in the U.S. Education system. The platform is so simple in its delivery that it’s able to create a true educational experience without the headaches of distraction and high school productivity.
The need for innovation also stems from the fact that many people in the working world have a misunderstanding of their working relationship with their employers; they’re a liability that’s in place because there isn’t a cheaper/better alternative. With white-collar jobs, such as accounting, legal work, medical coding, executive assistants, and whole slews of technical development available for pennies on the dollar in an overseas environment, it’s only a matter of time before the American workplace looks drastically different.
As artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality become more commonplace in our lives, I believe there will be huge sweeps of job losses/modifications in the industry. The only way to stay ahead of the wave is to ride it home.
We’re also living in a strange generational gap that has the children in a position to lead the parents, wholly through advances in education and technology. I’ve seen far more children guide their parents through the process of joining LinkedIn to find new employment than I have seen parents helping their children get their first job. Social networks and even conventional financial institutions are being rattled by this fast moving, poking, liking world of young whiz kids using crowdfunding to launch their wildest dreams. The business banker is losing his points while the likes of PayPal are playing referee to a whole new world of innovation.
The world has never been more connected, ripe with opportunity, and primed to have major cultural/generational shifts in the way the world is run.
Featured Image From Khan Academy Website Homepage
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