Life is changing at an exponential rate. A mere ten years ago there were no iphones. Fifteen years ago there was no Facebook. Twenty years ago there were no cell phones. Thirty years ago there was no world wide web. Forty years ago there were no computers (I know the computer is much older than that – On all of these, I’m referring to wide-spread access by the general public).
The Acceleration of Life
The hyperloop is coming. This is a new form of transportation that can reach speeds of 750 mph (just shy of the speed of sound). It’s basically a bullet-shaped train shot through a tube using electr0-magnetic technology. That’s an oversimplification, but my point is that we are about to enter an age of travel that will go faster and faster, getting us places quicker and quicker. The limiting factor on this technology for human travel is not so much the speed, but rather the acceleration and deacceleration.
The human body can handle speeds far beyond anything we have invented — once the vehicle reaches that speed (the space shuttle travels over 17,000 mph). It’s getting to that speed that is difficult on the body (as all astronauts will attest).
In other words, it’s not the speed that upsets your stomach – it’s the rate at which the speed is changing (the acceleration).
Change is not the problem. Change has always been with us. And that’s a good thing. Who really wants to go back to riding horses? (Henry Ford famously said, “If I’d asked the people what the wanted, they would have said, faster horses.”) The problem unique to our generation is not that things that are changing — it’s the rate of change – it’s the acceleration.
For this reason, I prefer to talk about transformation rather than change.
Massive Paradigm Shifts
Think about the massive paradigm shifts all of these technologies have brought to our lives. Think about all the ways they have changed our global community. Is it any wonder that our heads are spinning from the acceleration of change?
The world is transforming and transitioning before our very eyes. Technology and change are now operating on “doggy years” (1 to 7). If you fall five years behind, you are really thirty-five years behind. Think about what that means! If you are operating with technology that worked in 2008, you are seventy years behind the curve!
Fortunately, there are principles that never change. There are values that should never change. However, how those principles are expressed — how those values are shared — is always changing.
Moses, Egypt, and the Navigation of Change
Over the next few weeks, I want to study the idea of transitions and transformation — how change works. I want to do that using an ancient story –the story of the transformation of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt to powerful Empire under King Solomon. This transformation took place over roughly a three-hundred-fifty-year period from the initial leadership of Moses to the splendor of Solomon’s reign. There were four powerful stages that fueled that transformation.
The Four Stages of Transformation
- Fearful Fight for Change (Exodus from Egypt)
- Anxious Transitions (Wilderness Wandering)
- Courageous Movement (Conquest of the Promised Land)
- Emerging Growth (A Nation Emerges)
In each stage, there are certain dynamics that need to be understood. Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, Solomon, and others will show us the way.
My next post will begin to unpack the following dynamics of the first phase.
The Fearful Fight For Change
- Wrestling with who you are.
- Recognizing the need for change.
- Creating a plan for change.
- Developing a coalition for change.
- Dealing courageously with the obstacles to change.
I’ll look at each of these over the next few weeks and apply them to how we deal with the ever-increasing transitions in our lives … stay tuned!
