Disruption at its best
Circuit breaker
Singapore’s very own version of a city lockdown to flatten the curve from an ongoing global pandemic labelled CoVid19. Similar to how we were living through circuitry, a switch was placed to interrupt the current flow of things when a fault is detected. While the virus went public just before the turn of the century, we only took notice when it hit our shores.
What used to be just another news headline we normally swipe over, now became the only message that mattered as the whole world goes into social isolation. Words that carry no weight that’s not insta-worthy of our social media now demands the attention of humanity. The irony of an age where information has become readily accessible yet the medium overshadows the message and the meaning in language are lost in circuitry.
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward. Only looking backwards, so you must have faith that it will all play out.” — Steve Jobs
From one of the pioneers in our modern age, let’s look back almost a decade ago when he introduced the first iPhone in 2007. What now seems like ancient machines that once sat in our houses as we patiently wait for the dial, the world wide web was made accessible to everyone as the computer fit in our pockets. Since then, the industrial age was left to dust as the world became a giant network fuelled by technological innovations. A technological change that enabled radically new ways to deliver value to customers, altering competitive landscapes and changing the underlying economics of our markets. What’s different was the ever-increasing rate of change as it grew exponentially to the point where singularity between humans and technology may even be possible. Stand the risk of being disrupted or embrace a digital transformation as we leap into a global marketplace.
Adapt or be disrupted as change became the only constant.
This was the common narrative before the turn of the century yet the only exponential growth we’re charting is the growing disparity in wealth by the compounding interests on debts and the viral outbreak spreading across the globe. While we were anticipating an imminent change, most of us ignored the signs of the fragile state of our own systems. It is as if we’ve stopped to marvel at the sun but we stared too long and now we’re blinded; forgotten of where we were heading. Although, this wasn’t a spectacle such as our sun but a product of our own creation. Conceived and made real beyond our imagination yet we’re still entrapped within the boundaries of where our sense and logic could ever go. We even foretold the robots were coming yet we were the ones left empty and lifeless as we left behind pieces of what made us human in the first place. These realities were just a mirror of our own self as we reflect sitting in our homes.
By now, the world has started to shrug off the shock from the outbreak. The narrative has now moved from a shared reflection towards making sense of what happened to an optimistic forecast, hopeful of a new beginning as our world heals. And with change imminent, let’s try not to let history repeat itself. While we’ve always started based on good intentions, we often forget as we progress. Many are ready to lead that change but are we truly ready transform ourselves?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” — Albert Einstein
In response to a world in transition, it begins by rediscovering what it means for us to be human; and in the context of the world that we live in. We’ve understood that how we frame our question will lead towards different answers. In order to rise above deeply fundamental yet varyingly nuanced issues of modern society, we must reframe our worldview moving forward. Only through the change of circumstances, the mettle of men is known.
