Welcome to the future. There’s a lot of talk about “change” these days—isn’t there? But this time—this wave of change—is like never before. It’s a time when all of the domains of civilization are changing at the same time, from technology to politics to economics.
It's a turbo-charged period of change we call “compressional acceleration”—a pace of technological change that makes the last 10 years feel like the equivalent of the previous 100. Thus, it makes a single lifetime feel like an 800 year journey through time.
Imagine.
We’d get to meet King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette plus witness the inventions of the year 2,500—all before we find our mortal shells six feet under.
CC andrew abogado
What to do?
We can think more about how we think. Ironically, it's not about technology. Rather, it's about what technology has done to and is doing to us, and how we cope with and leverage it.
It's about our mindset. Industrial era operational mindsets no longer cut it. It’s a time to be smarter, more flexible and mobile. It’s a time for creativity, ideas, creation and innovation.
It's a good time to be... well, a bit of a Screwball.
Screwballs are good
The screwball pitch changed the game of baseball
Screwball comedies in the 1930′s effectively addressed social issues, and helped us navigate the emotions of the Great Depression
Screwballs are eccentric, eclectic and multi-talented
Screwballism should be spread
The world needs Screwball-ness
Who are some of the thinkers thinking about thinking different about the future?
The definitions of how and where we live, and why - are on the fly.
When I grew up in suburban Cleveland during the 60's and 70's, life was ideal. Surreal ideal. I was an only child (still am). My earliest memories are of a new brick ranch style home - and then a modern split-level.
In my early teens, I tore-up the neighborhood on my banana bike or skateboard, and then graduated to a 10-speed. I had a hamster named Adam (survived by our sweet little dog who's name I won't divulge for self-centric masculinity reasons).
There were backyard fridge-box adventures (gosh, those were the best) and of course there were "my woods" - i.e., wild nature just down the street for my best friend Jeff and me to explore (until, of course, the trees came down so a K-Mart could go up). Heck, we can't all just run around in the woods - we have to buy stuff, right?
A remnant of "My Woods" - A piece of tree taken away - to make way - for K-Mart :-(
We had a TV that looked more like a French Provincial desk than a box of electronics. Outside of the weekly thrill of watching the trash being picked up, the real "main event" was the occasion when humans actually came to our house to fix the desk/TV unit.
Lucky for me, outside of watching a show or two, my Mom, Dad & I talked more than we watched.
Growing up, I learned about the twentieth century dream, which made perfect sense to everyone at that time: School--> More school--> Job --> Better Job --> House --> Bigger House --> Maybe even a Bigger-er house --> Retire.
If one used his/her head, and worked hard, it all worked out.
But not any more.
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Welcome to the 21st century
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As Richard Florida outlines in The Great Reset ...we're living midst an historic reset where the definitions of "work", "play", and "home" are changing forever.
In The Great Reset, Florida explains that we've been through similar economic "resets", and that each one of them have had a major impact on where we live and work. In the 1870's (The "Long Depression") the big shift was rural to urban. After the 1930's (The Great Depression) we experienced the big shift from urban to suburban.
Now, we're experiencing the "mega-regions", where small struggling cities & regions become integrated with larger multi city metropolises. One such mega-region, the so-called Bos-Wash (A corridor encompassing Boston, Philly, New York, Baltimore and Washington D.C.) is inhabited by 50 million people, and has the economic output twice that of Canada. These are complex and diverse regions characterized by human diversity, mixed-use development and a wide range of industries and creative sectors.
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Stepping Back
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The term "home" has various meanings. In the case of animals, it refers to their habitat. For humans, it can mean both "house" (physical dwelling) as well as the general idea we call "home" - i.e., an area or community where we find refuge, shelter, comfort and connection.
In recent years, comfort and connection come from all kinds of places and sources... from the people we know, to the places we go, to how we spend our time, to what we surf, to where we actually "live" and/or work.
Before the industrial revolution, the term "home" was basically synonymous with "house" - i.e., the physical place. It was likely the place we worked, too - i.e., the farm. But in the twentieth century, work became a completely different physical place - a place away from "home" - and away from your "house".
Today, work goes with you. The office is increasingly your home... and home is where you are.
In many ways, it's like a return to the nineteenth century, when work, home and house were all the same place. But this time, there is a very distinct difference: These various life-domains are not only combined - they are all increasingly mobile.
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It started with the mobile phone
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For anyone born after 1985, the idea of communication devices tied to a specific physical address is hard to imagine. A similar trend is happening with the home/house. It's becoming less a function of a specific place as it is becoming a function of where you are, at the time.
Some people are even asking the question, "How do we define where we are when we're there? The article, below, talks about how tablets such as iPads are becoming "extensions" of our bodies. These devices respond before we even give them a conscious command. In a way, they are extending our physical and mental "locations" beyond the place we're actually located.
The new "mobile home" is becoming increasingly like your mobile phone. Small, portable, modular & inexpensive.
One company making such homes is called Tumbleweed, "The Tiny House Company" Imagine your house on wheels wherever you go. New job? New gig? No problem: Have house, will travel. Your house, dog, hamster and you are on your way - in the lead-time of a day.
The Tata Nano House starts at $720 USD - built. (That's seven-hundred-and-twenty-dollars, not $720,000). Seven days to construct. At 1/1,000th the cost of some homes, sure, you'll weigh the purchase carefully - just like you'd weigh the purchase of an iPad - but an iPad purchase doesn't define your life for a 30 year period. Nor should a house.
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What if you need extra space?
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The pub (dare we return to the real "pub" a.k.a. the "public house"?) the coffee shop and other community spaces become your extended home - digitally interconnected and populated with other humans with whom to interact. Extra stuff to deal with or store? eBay, Craig's List: At your service.
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Share, Swap, Switch
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At Korman Communities you can opt for flexible "Apartment Homes" on a short-term rental full-service basis. Part home, part community, part hotel. If you nail a new job that takes you to a different city, no prob. Notify Korman and swap over to another similar Korman unit in that new city. No leases to break. No drama.
With airbnb.com your you can swap/rent homes, apartments, boats or villas across the world. Meanwhile, your place at "home" can be rented by others (also on airbnb.com).
With an average U.S. household spend of $16,000-$17,000 per year on housing (and its associated upkeep) (that's $50/day)... share/swap/rent looks pretty attractive.
And thanks to my friend Aron in Brno (formerly a fellow in Shaker Heights, OH) I now know about CouchSurf
No money is transferred. People share their dwellings with others within the non-profit CouchSurfing community. As they say, "Open your Mind, Open your Home... Open the World". Benefits include couch + connection.
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The net-net
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The house-building/owning patterns of the later half of the 20th century ultimately became unsustainable - as evidenced by the meltdown of '08/'09. The Great Reset points to studies showing that, ironically, regions with better home-ownership stats suffer in other ways, like unemployment. When people are trapped by their homes, they don't have the flexibility to go where their work and skills "work" best. As a result, the region and the collective suffer.
Our economy is increasingly one of ideas, knowledge and service that depend on flexibility and mobility.
We, too, need to be more flexible.
There's no one answer. For some, a farm makes sense. For others, it is a couch. And for many, it's a hybrid. Regardless, we're in an era when choice making becomes key - and choices, indeed, we can make.
The 21st Century is changing what these words mean. It's also changing the word "Entrepreneur".
Wikipedia says that an "Entrepreneur" is a person who makes money through taking risks and accepting full responsibility for outcomes. Okay, that accurately describes many entrepreneurs. But there is a new breed of "free agent" Entrepreneurs coming onto the scene whom I like to call "NEOpreneurs". They aren't just interested in money - and they take on more than financial risk. They risk their reputation - and former definitions of success. They work for what they believe - and not just for business achievement. As Jon Stein, founder of the firm Betterment states, "There’s a noticeable shift in what people value most in their careers. The New York Times studied key words in a sample of commencement speeches last year. The words 'world' and 'love' showed up far more often than 'money' and 'success'."
These observations are a byproduct of other shifts in our society
In the 20th Century, GDP was invented to measure output, growth, production and "more-ness". FDR and his administration invented it as a way to measure the economy after the Great Depression. But what made perfect sense 70 years ago doesn't necessarily make sense today.
GDP is being questioned by many. Most recently, the United Nations joined the conversation with a panel calling for “new ways to measure progress” in advance of the Rio+20 Global Transition 2012 Summit
"Work" - What is it?
I consider a round of golf "play". For Annika Sörenstam, it's serious business - and serious work. Today, more and more workers are redefining what "work" is. They are "black collar" workers (according to Philip Auerswald). They're hyper-connected and on the go - They think differently than workers of the past - They don't accept the historic roles of management and labor - They're innovative and independent - They work whenever and wherever they happen to be - And their office is their smartphone.
There's a whole new lot of them coming on-stream. Soon, three billion people who were formerly excluded from the advances and progress of the last five centuries now have a seat at the information-connected table. Auerswald asserts, "Prosperity in the 21st century won't be about life-long "employment" and ever increasing "consumption" as in the 20th century. Instead, it will be about connecting, creating, contributing, and collaborating in a rapidly evolving world. Intense localization will interact with all-pervasive globalization".
Stein recognizes that money and certain "rules" can motivate - to a point - but only to a point. He chooses to give his employees the freedom they desire to get the work done... when and where they want to get it done. Stein states, "In designing a working environment that would bring out the best qualities in our team, we had to come up with a model to satisfy the demands of a startup while balancing the needs of individuals. The No-Hour Workweek means our team is constantly in contact. Two-thirds of our team takes customer calls on weekends, and our development team frequently works into the wee hours of the morning. We monitor social media, catch up on emails, and work on projects at night and over the weekends, and we’re constantly attending industry and networking events. The No-Hour Workweek also means that our team members can come in at 8, 12, or not at all if they’d prefer to work remotely. It means they can work at the times they’re most productive, make family gatherings, attend to personal commitments, leave early for travel or yoga or drinks with friends."
We knew the 21st century would bring us change. Here it is.
Are you NEOpreneur?
Join NEOtropolis and "What's the Big Idea?" on April 3, 2012 to learn more.
The answer is up - way up... and certainly not "out".
Vertical farming is the idea -- and it can change the landscape of how we produce and consume food.
Regarding the photos, below... both depict Akron, Ohio. Urban is rural. Rural is urban. We can feed those in our respective communities, and we can do so across the world.
There's lots to think about. It takes 2500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef and it takes 120 gallons of water to produce a single egg. Imagine.
There are all kinds of inefficiencies associated with what we do and how we do it, with respect to food.
But it doesn't have to be that way. There are better ways. The ideal idea is to grow food where people live (versus shipping it to them) and do so without wasting other precious resources. We can seed and feed to the sky - and grow plants without soil or water.
We can do these things. If we decide to do them - together.
NEOtropolis returns from its Spring Break and kicks-off its season "back nine" on March 27th. The show, titled "Taste and Place", explores the forces of technology affecting our production and consumption of food.
The "What's the Big Idea?" segment smacks you with some sobering facts: A billion people are still hungry... 40,000 kids die of starvation each and every day... and 50% of the food we produce is thrown out.
But once again... there is good news if we leverage technology, apply a collective will, and implement visionary ideas. Join NEOtropolis and "What's the Big Idea?" on Tuesday for one of those technology solutions.
Quiz: Which photo depicts Akron, Ohio?
Craig Arthur James 2012
The above are not necessarily the views of NEOtropolis Western Reserve PBS. Rather, the above article is the view of this author related to topics he may discuss as a contributor on NEOtropolis.
The "What's the Big Idea?" (WTBI) segment raised awareness of the importance of energy in tackling other large issues that face the planet Earth. We also suggested that if we can be successful in creating and harnessing additional, and cleaner, energy - we will be able to solve many of the world's greatest challenges via a beautiful and elaborate 'domino cascade' of events.
Some of the Stats from the WTBI segment...
The sun showers on us 5000x the amount of energy we need - everyday
Currently only 1% of Earth's water is usable by humans
Water desalination is energy intensive
70% of current freshwater use is for agriculture
Additional clean water = more food
More Food = Less Famine, Poverty, Disease
Less Famine, Poverty, Disease = Less Conflict and War
All of this means... More time, energy & applied brain power
... This means we can apply those brilliant minds to other challenges ...
Cure cancer, Go to Mars, and stuff we can't imagine right now ...
Key = The Collective Will to Begin this Beautiful & Elaborate Domino Cascade
The Northeast Ohio Clean Cities Coalition, is a program of the Earth Day Coalition. Clean Cities is an initiative of the US Department of Energy promoting efficient vehicles, advanced vehicle technologies, alternative fuels, and alternative fuel vehicles. The goal of the program is to promote better air quality through improving transportation emissions.
If you're interested in a 'coffee chat' about the powerful content of Abundance - let us know, Craig and Sue
The Original Post...
How often do you use the term "energy"? You probably use it in a "traditional" fashion, referring to the energy moving your car, keeping you warm or powering your computer.
You probably also think of "energy" when you encounter people too - right? i.e., "He has great (or bad) energy". You know what you feel - but how do you "know"?
As I write this in a coffee shop, I gaze off to think. Then, lo and behold, I see this:
At that moment, I realize that "energy" involves everything - everyone - always - everywhere.
On Tuesday, February 28th on NEOtropolis we talk about energy and more: Turning junk into art, waste into fuel, up-cycle, recycle - The works.
During the "What's the Big Idea?" segment, we touch on the big-picture of energy and it's amazing impact on everything we know.
There's lots to think about: Numerous studies indicate that in the coming decades (if we stay on the current track) there simply won't be much of the stuff (energy, that is)left for us to use.
But it doesn't have to be doomsday. There are tremendous possibilities if we tap our collective brain-power and explore new aggressive solutions. For example, the Sun showers the Earth with 5,000 times the energy we need each and every day.
PS: What's informing some of the "What's the Big Idea?" thinking for the Episode? It's an Amazing book (and movement) about the tremendous possible future in front of all of us - if we change our thinking: "Abundance - The Book".
craig arthur james 2012
The above are not necessarily the views of NEOtropolis or Western Reserve PBS. Rather, the above article is the view of this author related to topics he may discuss as a contributor on NEOtropolis.
On February 14, 2012 NEOtropolis covered "The Languages of Expression". The "What's the Big Idea?" segment talked about the power of music in the workplace - and beyond.
Usually we think of music as pleasant or entertaining. Well, it can be both of those things and much, much more. Like the power of the smile, expression through music transcends language. Science is telling us that music is essential to physical & cognitive health, and that it can be a useful tool in the workplace.
Below are the articles and resources mentioned during the segment.
("Bonus" - If you watched the show, you witnessed that technology daemons within an electronic keyboard robbed host Luke Frazier and contributor Craig James from their chance to play a masterpiece live on the show. At the bottom of this page is a rare opportunity to witness a "behind the scenes" green room prologue of the masterful (?) performance)
The above are not necessarily the views of NEOtropolis or Western Reserve PBS. Rather, the above post has been produced by and are the views of this author, related to topics he may discuss as a contributor on NEOtropolis. Further, the fabulous prologue video is not a production of Western Reserve PBS, but rather an impromptu video capture via iPhone courtesy Sea James.
--> Update: Post-show blog post including links to information on Music in the Workplace, Music & Health... and more. Find it HERE
Muse-ic. Do you know that the word "music" is derived from the the Greek word "mousike" meaning "Art of the Muses"? - Muses are those magic goddesses who inspire the creation of literature, art and lyrics.
You see, there are all kinds of expressions; visual, verbal and artistic. Spoken language has been around for a long time. But other types of expressions - the more mysterious and magical ones - are the ones that have been around even longer. They're the ones that tend to touch our soul and ignite our hearts.
Music might be considered one of the most magical and mysterious of all. There are no words to express the feelings music can emote. As my friend Pastor Joe says, "One can read and play notes - but jazz and improvisation can't be described or prescribed. Life is jazz".
He's right. Life is jazz - here in Northeast Ohio - and across the world. Maybe it's time to improvise.
Today's post is primarily verbal via the "audio-blog" you'll find immediately below. Through it, you'll meet a guitar-playing guy named Pat, and hear a few musings about music, big ideas, and expression.
Could music be a key (no pun intended) to making progress here in Northeast Ohio? Tune-in on February 14th to find out - and hear a few hints here about the "What's the Big Idea" segment of the Feb. 14th episode called, "The Languages of Expression":
By now if you're into music at all, you've probably already seen Walk off the Earth's 5-people-playing-a-guitar video. 53 million people have decided to watch it - and counting. Is music powerful?:
craig arthur james 2012
The above are not necessarily the views of NEOtropolis or Western Reserve PBS. Rather, the above post has been produced by and are the views of this author, related to topics he may discuss as a contributor on NEOtropolis
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