Session 4!

A French saying goes “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Is that so? Do read to the end to find out (:

Brief Summary:

From session one, it is established that the world is always constantly changing. However, this session interestingly deals with change itself. Specifically, the factors driving change – what sparks a change to the status quo, and the management of change – who are the people who lead change or respond to changes (or entirely refuse to change). Only by understanding this process of change can we be more prepared for change and be ready to respond the change, if not lead it.

(picture on leading the change)

Interesting Observations and Ideas:

Why do some people refuse to change while others are more receptive to change? The graph Crossing the Chasm is on the different groups of people who adopt the technology with time.

I believe it shows the intrinsic characteristic of humans’ aversion of change or risk. The new technology is not what people are used to hence they would rather stick with the things they are familiar with and let others explore the unknown before them. However, I think that such a mindset is detrimental because the people who dare to take the first step will reap all the benefits of the technology first and advance forward before the vast majority does.

Hence, I am very impressed with Apple, to be able to encourage more people to be ‘Early adopters, visionaries’ or even ‘Innovators, technology enthusiasts’. There is a substantial number of Apple fans that will rush to buy the new technological product Apple comes up with (the long queues of people in front of the Apple store on the product release day) and many of them will even look up on the new technologies involved in the Apple gadgets before the product is introduced to the market.

Key take-away points:

1. The key difference between leadership and management is that leaders come up with the conceptual framework and managers follow the framework and make sure it is carried out. We watched a video on a guy dancing and a group of followers started to do so as well, to show the leader (first guy dancing) concept.

Then I thought – we are all leaders and managers in our own rights, even in our daily lives! In my opinion, even initiating a trip down to Macdonald’s for lunch with friends might be considered a show of leadership skills. Such efforts may seem insignificant, like the video of the guy who danced alone initially, but it is a step taken forward. It is a step that most people do not wish to take. Usually what stops people from being true leaders but only managers is not that they do not have that ingenious idea but because they lack the determination or courage to bring the idea forward. By the time they do, someone else has done it and they can only choose to be the followers or managers.

2. Our societies are not prepared for epidemics, a plague can easily catch us off our guards and undo all the human developments we have achieved thus far.

I think this is an interesting point brought up because I also observed from the epidemics we have experienced like SARS and bird flu that there was widespread panic, some activities like school was even halted for a period due to people’s fear and to reduce the spread of the viruses. Furthermore, after the epidemic died off, people return to their complacent states of mind. Hence, a future long lasting epidemic (touchwood) might make so many activities unable to continue that the economy falls into stagnation, political power falls due to people losing faith in the government as the solution to their woes and social interactions reduce as people avoid coming into contact with each other.

Issues for further discussion:

On the factors for drivers of world change, I felt that it could be a bonus if we discussed how technology played a part in some of the factors other than ‘Scientific Discovery and Technology Innovation’ so that we can see the vast effects of technology. For example, technology facilitated or is a crucial part of ‘Globalization’, where national boundaries are erased due to the use of communication technologies. This may help clear the misconceptions of some students previously that TWC is all about the hard and cold mechanics of technology, since we may identify the way technology intertwines our lives through politics, the economy and our social lives.

Personal Ratings for Session:

9/10 – Very insightful, since we tend to only focus on what sparked the change. For example, the newspaper merely states what is happening the real world. However, what is equally important is how we humans can adapt to or create the change, which is covered in this lesson.

My take on the French saying at the top of this post is that people or organizations stay true to their values and what they deem important (like seeking improvements) and that they are constantly exploring new ideas to progress forward. Hence, the more things change, the more they stay the same.