Will things ever be the same? – Julian Summerhayes

“The future feels a lot more like marketing–it’s impromptu, it’s based on innovation and inspiration, and it involves connections between and among people–and a lot less like factory work, in which you do what you did yesterday, but faster and cheaper.”

The high street is crumbling.

Long term employment will become the exception.

A portfolio career will be standard.

Entrepreneurship will become a taught subject (if that is not an oxymoron).

Social interaction via on-line tools will increase at an exponential rate – just look at the growth rate of Pinterest.

[Will this result in social mobilisation as opposed to interaction? Only time will tell.]

Doing projects where you control the flow, rather than looking for instructions will be where the action is.

And, importantly, we will have to get used to a simpler, more frugal lifestyle as the World’s natural resources disappear.

The trouble is that very few people are prepared for such a paradigm.

We all have grown up believing in the Industrial complex. In short, the pursuit of more. It is too simplistic to believe this is a hangover from World War Two. My parents (and theirs) wanted a better life but not, I would conjecture, to the extent where we grew drunk on excess.

I am not a pessimist. Nor do I feel the situation is hopeless, but we need to lift our eyes skyward and dream, think for ourselves and stop waiting to be picked. No one is coming to your rescue. Whatever government is in power, they would see it as political suicide to proselytize a message that was anything less than before.

For my part, I see the future as a brilliant opportunity to create art that has the power to connect people who are looking for more than a temporal fix.

Sure the new ‘lifestyle’ will be hazy in parts, stressful and Old School learning will be just that …old. But it will be more fulfilling emotionally, spiritually and, hopefully, financially.

One last thing. Business, of whatever hue, has to do a lot more to future proof their tenure in the market. This means tearing down the old models of ’employer’ and ’employee’ and look for something much more adaptive and synergistic. This goes beyond collective ownership or sharing of risk (forget John Lewis just for once). It must also positively transform lives.

I have three children (9, 13 and 16) and I see massive challenges ahead for them, but one thing I am determined to do is to make sure they look outside the lines of education, and consider the World their playground not the arc of Devon or the South East.

A challenge? You bet. But one I know they will be better equipped to cope with than my generation.

Working with me

I am available for speaking, consulting and coaching on all things social media, excellence and brand you. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] or contact me on +44(0) 7588 815384. You can follow me on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn,  Tumblr.