Robots do not get sick, do not need to be motivated, do not have a decline in mood. Tha t is why using them is tempting for business. But are we prepared for the social consequences of the automation process? Are humans ready for a life without work?
Technology has no ethics. It is neither good nor bad until it is implemented. It is us who give it an ethical marker, depending on the purposes for which we use it. What I have in mind is the advanced use of big data and self-learning systems and any devices or solutions which could be installed in human beings and which would allow control over them. Impulses to the brain will make us even more susceptible to influence and manipulation.
Man is not only capable of rational thinking, and definitely is not just a consumer. Man is a complex, multidimensional being. What would we be without spirituality? I developed and published a Coherent Leadership ™ model. It is a holistic programme of corporate management culture, based on a multidimensional leadership development programme in the private and professional spheres, based on the philosophy of sustainable development on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level.
The problem with black swan events is not that we cannot predict them, but that we often ignore them. We trivialize the reciprocal impact of the supposedly distant areas and shield away from questions about technological development and its effect on a social crisis as well as the decline of ethics.
One of the main topics of the Economic Forum in Davos concerns reskilling, i.e. the retraining of employees who need to be ready for very radical changes in the economy. Never before have we been in such a powerful combination of man and technology. According to the report published in Davos, only in the US 16-25 per cent of workers will find themselves in a dead-end by 2026 – with no job opportunities unless they retrain.
What will be the fate of those financially collapsed during coronavirus epidemic? What will be the mental state of people? What will the new world be? Are we ready for it? As always, we want to get solutions quickly, but today many disturbing questions, unfortunately, do not have answers.
I’ve been collecting quality questions for years. One of my favourites is when was the last time you learned something completely new – like a baby learning how to walk that collapses now and then? Something you’ve never known before? How did you react to frustration? Have you found the perseverance and consistency to go through the efforts of the learning process, where at first you know little and still experience the feeling of failure? Is there a place for it in business today, when the perspective of the upcoming quarter outweighs the long-term perspective?
© Zofiia Dzik