Technology and World Change - Week 4

Time really flies and here we are at the 4th week of TWC.

This week lesson, we talk about the global drivers of change, change management, and change leadership.

I really like the quote that was being mentioned in class, by W. Edwards Deming. He said “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory”. This sentence is very thought provoking to me as it leads me to think about the change I have experienced ever since the day I was born. If we refuse to change, I guess that the technology that we will be using now will be antique. Things like a walkie- talkie (those really big mobile phones that existed in the past), desktop which is really fat and unable to allow users to carry around etc. So if we are reluctant to change, it is as if we are saying "I am staying in my own cave forever" to the entire world. This will definitely lead to isolation or worst, extinction like the DO-DO bird :)

Then my question would be, is technology the driver of change? Or does the need for change forces us to come out with better technology? This issue remains unsolved just like the Chicken- Egg issue. From my perspective, I believe one of the drivers of change is human beings. We are the ones who came out with such technology which impacts the world. With the mindset of wanting to have better lives and convenience at the same time, new technologies were being instigated and formed.

Some of the interesting observations and ideas that I gathered from the class is that environment is one of the drivers of world change as well. This makes me relate to the previous lesson whereby Masdar City is being introduced in Abu Dhabi. The city plans to run entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources, with a sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste ecology. To me, this is a major change made to the world with the consideration of reducing waste and promoting “Saving Gaia”. The topic intrigue questions like: Can humans really adapt to this kind of change in their daily lives? How long can they survive in such an environment? All this is about adapting to the change management and how the government in Abu Dhabi has to do in order to carry out project and helps its people to adapt quickly to this transition to a green and “sustainable” place.

I will give a rating of 8/10 for this session because I really like what is being discussed in class and it also helps me to understand change from another perspective.