Four disruptive forces? Disruptive can be good and forces may be seven.
An ARTICLE from James Manyika - James Manyika - Director, McKinsey Global Institute (MGI)

Four disruptive forces? Disruptive can be good and forces may be seven.

This analysis from James Manyika (McKinsey) about external threats, which companies should look at to face their future, has been a good, thought-provoking read which I recommend. 

However, I personally see three positive "disruptions" of the ones listed (ie: I see more opportunities than threats in emerging markets, in the acceleration of technological change and in the increasing flow of interconnections) and only one negative, the ageing of the worldwide population which I think it is a huge weight on our children's future: it is almost impossible to turn this into an opportunity and it's a massive problem which needs to be solved, but how?

I loved the historical references and the optimistic view at the end of the analysis, even if I think that there are three important, menacing disruptions which are missing and should be addressed.

The first one is climate change and the often related deminishing of natural resources. If we do not look after our planet first, all our other efforts in business and social committment will be totally useless.

The second factor I see is the fast spreading extremist religious beliefs and terrorist threats which are making the world a much less safe place. Since 9/11, the situation has not only been solved, but dramatically worsened and this is impacting globally, from West to East, North and South of our planet. It is negatively influencing all aspects of life, from school choices, to job searching, from foreign investments to business growth, from freedom of speech to simply facing with confidence the future of mankind.

The third aspect is the loss of "good" values which the younger generations should aspire to, which is sadly linked to the lack of high quality standard education and the worsening quality of global media: the former is forgetting to teach about our roots, our extended, global culture, the power of our differences, the limitations of our similarities - which type of future leaders are we really developing, if any? The latter should fairly inform and educate people, and it is instead further and further from fulfilling its main objective. The desire of pleasing bigger audiences through all possible distribution platforms, where even analphabetic v-bloggers are considered "competition" by a CNN or a BBC, are substantially causing the development of a much wider elitarism, where the ignorant masses are increasing fast, making humankind devolve and regress.

I therefore see business opportunities ahead and I think that only the fittest and the most clever will manage to grasp them. I however also see a less fair, prepared and more superficial humankind developing, which is something no leadership is trying to address in the global socio-political arena.

People, and especially their minds, should come first, in companies as much as in societies. If we do not look after that, our future will be very bleak.

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