Global Age Illiteracy Syndrome

20 Feb Global Age Illiteracy Syndrome

In the rapidly changing world of known and unknowns, the new age of answers thrives; the global age awakens the truth, a new messiah cometh.

How literate are we to cope with the new global age challenges and why the business world is so much immersed on the fog of confusion, both fear and lack of direction something never seen before? Can we really read the signs, understand the signals and decipher complexity or are we once again have become the illiterates? Just like we were at very major phase of technological evolution; before the invention of the printing press, computers, social media and now…..are we really literate enough to play the global chess game?

The business world has changed so fast and so suddenly that most leaders are almost deemed illiterate enough to read the new language, signals or decipher new codes of operations. Clearly this was the identical case when the Silicon Valley computer revolution started, boardrooms had less than 1% executives articulate enough to lead any discussion or lead the project. The same was repeated when Internet shook the world and now we are on the same landscape all over again. The hyper accelerated global age cycles have seriously challenged our old skills and have created major gaps like chasm of incompetence to be filled with new skills, attitudes and new codes of operation.

Soft power asset management is about issues related to vision, imagination, innovation, talent and execution, and when calibrated by applying special methodologies three dimensional views appear and by tweaking such configuration one can catapult new innovative ideas to upper stratosphere into image supremacy.

Hard asset centricity is all about designed manufacturing or being locked into procedural and structural binds, unable to change but still forcing the hard structures to become fluidly move able but often without much progress. Here some global recognized programs like Six Sigma and Balanced Score Cards provides amazing metrics and cost reduction methodologies but lacks tackling soft asset management issues.

Why millions of businesses around the world, once on the right trajectory are now so off target and in a tail spin? There are multiple reasons but most hidden are the tectonic shifts towards soft asset management.

Today’s world is changing so fast that by the time your latest factory opens most of its hard assets are on their way to become obsolete; change in technology, global age pricing access, end-users accessibility and upcoming monster trends. Therefore soft power asset management provides the ultimate flexibility and deploys vision, imagination and talent as the main differentiators over raw production and prices.

The subject requires a deeper understanding especially when the global mind set is so comfortably nestled in the hard asset centricity…here are some facts;

• Old traditional knowledge has little or no value for being freely available at portable devices
• Old experiences of once mighty battles have little value in our new global age demands
• Old mastery of processes has no longer common applications and of limited or no value
• Old skills unless revitalized with new zest and adjustments have significant value
• Old knowledge unless fully re-energized for new global age execution is a liability.

ON THE OTHER HAND

• Old attitudes towards success and entrepreneurialism have great value for its maturity
• Old “value creation models” have enormous value as now they can bring new life to old ideas
• Old great success models have greater value for having the full cycle completed
• Old guts and glory are still very sought after for having faced the battlefields
• Old great principals and values, ideas and notions never saw the light but still a chance…

The difference between Apple and dozens of other similar type of companies can be summed by two simple words. “Skills and Execution”, this applies to thousands of others super successful global operations in search of their new global age destiny.

Organizations over the last decades sought a comfortable direction, the same organizations have now lost focus, direction and momentum based on new global age challenges…main reason is lack of knowledge of the global age issues.

Today, it’s all about global age skills, last decade it’s about knowledge and high speed information processing. Today new global thinking, knowledge and execution are the new tools of the trade. What are they, how do acquire them and how do achieve new level of mastery is where the new level of literacy is being calibrated. HR should be more focused in figuring this one out.

The proof of the fear of this new global age illiteracy syndrome is already hidden in the corporate silence; see nothing, hear nothing, speak nothing…

Beneficiaries: leadership willing to face the music shed the old entrapments and ready to dance with the new rhythms. Honest and hardworking entrepreneurialism ready to tackle new global age execution and global attitudes. Movements ready to bring mega local and global changes with super speed pragmatic solutions.

Enemies: The global HR management practice based on people processing on conveyor belts and current business educational delivery practices unloading already failed curriculum at exuberant prices.

Adjustments: Liberate yourself, refuse what you see not working, demand answers and present bold solutions break the molds and never be afraid. The humming sound you hear is not the air-conditioners it’s the tectonic shifts of new pragmatism crushing the old business models and creating new and higher level of competence. Become a Master, take charge and lead.