Demographics, Change, Travel and the Price of Progress

Another area of interest I have is how demographic trends affect our society, culture, economy and workplace.

The big “Millennial birth bulge” brought about by the same type of demographic birth concentration as shared by Boomers — 75 million by some estimates — is something that is having, and will continue to have, dramatic effects in many areas. Because we are so dependent on staying connected, we get situations like the one described above where friends leaving a restaurant all want to check their phones at the same time and block the sidewalk. Technology will solve this problem when it is more integrated with our lifestyles. The wearable device will be more seamless and a “Google Glass -esque” screen will surely be integrated into the next pair of fashion specs we buy at some point (prediction: everyone will wear eyeglasses).

But there are some changes that will take longer to solve. Our current organizational structures are largely based on a hierarchical industrial-age model. This doesn’t sit well with today’s fast-paced information economy. Companies are restrained from being innovative and younger employees are frustrated with a protocol that demands they “wait their turn”. Tony Hsieh is one of the most forward thinking of America’s young millionaires — already at the halfway point to becoming a billionaire. He recognizes business structure needs to change and is in the process of converting Zappos to a flat, self-organizing team structure. In this environment, employees can essentially be leaders and followers at the same time, providing plenty of opportunity for the less-patient to prove themselves and shine.

I live by a set of behaviors based on what I perceive as a fairly balanced worldly view. I encourage anyone to travel to experience more variety of culture, attitude, opinion, tastes. I don’t mean South Beach or Cancun for Spring Break :)…what I mean is traveling to other great cities of the world and experiencing their peoples. Not only does this potentially help the nations of the world to live in relative harmony, but also the people within a nation to live with each other.

I see so much positive change on the horizon, it’s mind boggling. Unfortunately, it is equally balanced with pain, as old industries continue to be replaced, or forced to change. We all need someone to blame for things that don’t work out as expected. Governments get blamed for the economy, the Fed gets blamed for the stock and housing markets. Yet it’s easy to forget that all the suffering is the price we pay for progress. So goes the old saying “no gain without pain”.