People seem really concerned about “future-proofing” in a world driven by accelerating change and accelerating uncertainty. For example:
- How do we future-proof our schools?
- How do we future-proof our libraries?
- How do we future-proof our wealth?
- How do we future-proof our careers?
- How do we future-proof our families?
This promotes dichotomic thinking along the lines of, “if the rest of the world is going to change, how can I (or my beloved institution) best survive by changing the least myself?” Why shouldn’t we expect ourselves to change significantly as well? To leapfrog beyond the contradictory thinking of “future-proofing,” perhaps we should ask ourselves:
- Does the future need schools?
- Does the future need libraries?
- Does the future need wealth?
- Does the future need careers?
- Does the future need families?
…and we ought to also ask how, why, and what do we need to change today?
This begs the more general question, of course, of what the future does need, which I am sure you address elsewhere on this site (which I am new too). Right off, I think, yes the future does need libraries. And I think it needs families of some sort, but the family/tribe could look very different. Same perhaps for careers. People need to be engaged with the experience of life in meaningful ways, but that sadly is often not what careers amount to now. Bottom line: I think these are good questions, and I like that you are asking questions most people would not think of. You have me as an occasional reader, and I hope when I start my blog soon you’ll tune in too.