Innovation #13 - Pace of Change
Getting "Behind" is Getting Easier
At a higher education breakout session at tech conference Rally 2023 in Indianapolis yesterday, the panelists talked about how technology changes occur noticeably more rapidly today. Where in our mother and father’s era, major changes might have occurred over decades, today an industry’s technology can completely change every 2 years or even quicker.
The pace of change has quickened dramatically.
One implication for higher education is that during the time that students experience a four-year degree program, the technologies those graduates will need to understand in order to be productive and relevant will likely change twice. Not only curriculums, but also teaching and learning styles will need to change to stay relevant in a faster paced technology world.
I’m writing this to remind you that this increasing pace of change APPLIES TO US ALL, not just students and educators!
The successful practices in your industry today will likely be behind the curve within two years.
The technologies that are most effective for you today will likely be old fashioned within two years.
The products or services you sell today will likely be a bit rusty within two years.
If you are old enough, you can remember back to when strategists advised you to build a “sustainable competitive advantage” that presumably would last for decades. Please forget that advice - today that strategy would be a recipe for becoming irrelevant within just a few years! In a world characterized by rapid technology change, WE ALL BECOME EARLY ADOPTERS. The best (yes, that’s YOU) will also be the innovators who lead the charge.
Today, more than ever, you will want an active innovation process that regularly keeps your practices, products, and services current and relevant with changing technologies.
Today, more than ever, you will want to be the innovator who DRIVES some of that leading edge change.
Happy Innovating, my friends!