I’ve arrived in Riga for a work trip on the final day of the lats remaining in circulation. It’s my (and my employer’s) first trip to this year’s European Capital of Culture and we were soon discussing change, technology (aka work) and how to deal with things we can’t control over dinner, which got me thinking…
‘Where will you be in five years’ time?,’ was once a standard interview (or bad date) question. However – with one in four of us having been with our current employer for less than one year (me included) and one in two of us having been with our employer for less than five years – we now wonder where we’ll be next year.
Will my book club (aka booze club/book swap) become a Lendle group? Will I be booking Airbnb rooms (the network plans to overtake InterContinental Hotels Group and Hilton Worldwide this year) for my next holiday instead of a Four Seasons or Mandarin Oriental? Will I be working in a job that didn’t exist five years ago? And will I be eating food that was grown in a lab or prepared by a 3D printer, washed down with a glass of wine made from grapes picked by robots?
The upside of all this change – and instability – is that it counters the feeling that time is passing us by. We’re acquiring new skills, getting information at the click of a button (it’s estimated that a week’s worth of The New York Times contains more information than a person came across in a lifetime during the 18th century) and easily staying in touch with friends who have moved to the other side of the world. The downside is that we can all too easily feel that we’re not keeping up (am I the only person who still uses a paper diary?) and nothing is permanent, including relationships.
In these exponential times nothing’s certain so we might as well take those risks; we can’t take anything for granted so we’d better appreciate what we have. My employer’s philosophy was in line with author Maya Angelou’s, ‘If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.’ I’d better make that sale then…
