The Unnamed Shift

We're living through a turning point, what we do now defines what comes next

It feels like something big is breaking, and we’re all right in the middle of it.

There’s a lot of anxiety and fear in the workplace today. Tariffs, wars, manufacturing slowdowns, layoffs, marketing budgets frozen; we can all feel the impact in our own lives, or to someone close to us.

We're going through another shift in the world, like the Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, or the start of the Great War. We are at the start of another era in human history; it's just that no one's put a good label on it yet.

It's clear that in industry after industry, US to Germany to Japan to everywhere, we're experiencing a major shift.

AI may be the largest force, but it’s just one of many. The old global order is cracking. The US is stepping back, China is stepping up (and many are happy about that), the EU can’t get its shit together, and Japan and South Korea are aging out.

And climate change, it's becoming increasingly clear it's not only true, but already here, when every summer is a record hot summer. Yet, the US is subsidizing coal and hamstringing solar in a knee-jerk conservative backlash to green energy being associated with liberals and progressives, not traditional American values and apple pie.

Back to AI, it may not be perfect, but it doesn't have to be to wreak utter havoc on whole industries and put people out of jobs.

Now, I don't want to be doom and gloom, because I'm generally an optimistic guy and holding out hope for a Star Trek future, not Skynet. But first, I want to say, I see you. I see the frustration, the pain, the fear, the anxiety of the unknown. It is real, and our feelings are valid.

We, all of humanity, stand not at a fork in the road, but at the beginning of a new trail, and the gate behind us is closed. We cannot go back to some point in the past. We cannot "Make America Great Again". We must make America, Europe, and the world something new. There is no past to return to, no glory years to be reclaimed. We must forge forward into the new world and navigate this landscape together.

AI, societal change, climate change, industry shifts.... this will be a rough transition period, but it's also an opportunity, as all changes are. This is an opportunity for us to build new industries, for industries to be reborn, for new companies to spring up, for new policies to be enacted, and cities to be reshaped. This is a time to experiment, to build, to probe the new territory we're in -- as individuals in our own careers, as companies, as industries, cities, countries, and whole regions.

5, 10, or 15 years from now, the new leaders, unicorn startups, and important cities and countries will be the ones making the moves today. Boldly striding down the new path we're on, and marking the path for those to follow.

Do not expect things to go back to the way they were.
So ask yourself instead, what small experiment can you try this week? What old assumption can you challenge? The future is already here, and it’s ours to shape.