Let’s Create An Actual ‘Brave New World’
“O Wonder, How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in it!”
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act. V, Sc. I
courtesy of Wikipedia
People have been using this quote for 400 years, mostly ironically (in line with Shakespeare’s original use): the utterance of a protagonist who misunderstands a new world, thinking it wonderful, when it is in fact dystopic (probably the best-known example being Aldous Huxley’s 1939 novel, Brave New World).
However, I’m proposing today that we can also use it in a completely positive way. Just last week I had great time doing a podcast with a wonderful guy named Tanveer Naseer. Tanveer and I started following each other last summer on Twitter. Then he responded to a query from our publicist Kaila (all via email) and indicated that he’d like to interview me for his podcast show, Leadership Biz Cafe. Tanveer and I did our interview on Skype, and now it’s available on his site.
OK, so think about this. Tanveer lives in Montreal, and I live primarily in New York City. We have (as far as I know) no intersections of school, family or friends. Without current digital technology, we never would have run into each other. And now (I’m sure) we’re permanently connected, and will support each other’s work and success in whatever ways we can.
And you – who may never have met either Tanveer or me, and perhaps never will – can benefit from our interaction as well, where ever you are. If you hear something that resonates for you in our conversation, you can use it for your own benefit, and pass it along to whomever you wish. A truly brave new world, indeed.
I know technology can do all kinds of bad stuff, and that Huxley-esque aspects exist in this “brave new world” of ours. But we can also use all of these new capabilities that exist to learn, to create connections, to innovate, to grow.
Let’s do that.
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Hi Erika,
What a lovely write-up of how we connected and I completely agree with you that we have the choice of how we wish to view and apply modern technology in our professional and personal lives.
I think it’s important to remember that prior to the internet, social media, mobile technology, etc, our ability to connect, interact, and collaborate with others was determined by a completely unrelated barrier – geography. In other words, we were limited by how easy is it to communicate to another person based on their physical proximity to you.
Now, our ability to connect with others is no longer determined by geography, but by mutual interests, common goals, and a sense of connectedness. In terms of organizations, these are powerful elements that can help organizations find the right people they need who get what they’re all about and are willing to commit their own talents, resources and creativity to seeing that shared purpose become a reality.
In terms of society and humanity as a whole, it means we might be able to start tearing down those artificial walls we use to define “us” and “them” and start seeing each other as “we”. Certainly, as humans we’re wired for empathy and to feel like we belong to a community. Unfortunately, we often let our drive for self-preservation get the better of us that we forget our ability to be generous, caring, and selfless with those around us.
The fact is that the future has yet to be written and we do have a choice to decide what kind of brave new world we want to live in and what we wish to pass along to our children.
By the way, I love that you used a quote from The Tempest as that was the Shakespearean play that I had to perform a soliloqy from for English Literature class, so it has a special place in my heart.
Thanks again, Erika, for the wonderful piece and I do agree that it’s allowed us to be permanently connected to support and cheer our mutual efforts to improve how we lead and serve those under our care.
And you’re doing a bang-up job!