I used to be overwhelmed with cynicism and fear that we are all doomed. Despite the crises we are currently facing, I believe we are living in the most exciting times in human history. And it is an era filled with opportunities to create sustainable prosperity for all.
we share collective pessimism Where it comes from is no mystery. Whenever we watch the news or ask what the future holds, we are surrounded by doom and gloom. Sophisticated disinformation campaigns are manipulating societies to destabilize and collapse them, or to cede control to authoritarians. The war in Ukraine has created a devastating human tragedy. Food insecurity has led to conflict and division in developing countries.
More than ever, it seems like the right time to focus on what’s going wrong.
Growing up in a working-class family in Oregon, I struggled with my own cynicism and defeatism. We were able to enjoy incredible natural beauty, hiking, camping, and a nice dip in the local river on a hot summer day. But these joys seemed more and more like privileged experiences that people of the future could not share. rice field. Climate change was advancing rapidly, emissions and pollution were spiraling out of control, and human-induced species extinctions threatened to wipe out our fellow humans on Earth. Richer, poorer poorer, powerless to do anything about it. The future was certainly hopeless.
But as I grew up and gained more experience in life, things began to change. It was full of citizens who expected more than that. I have traveled through China and seen new skylines and bullet train routes seemingly being built overnight and ancient temples and complexes full of culture and history nearby. Then I did an internship in South Africa, where I witnessed the enormous wealth disparity, but also spent time in towns and witnessed the believability of communities suffering from some of the highest rates of violent crime in the world. I saw an incredible amount of entrepreneurship and dynamism. There were problems everywhere, but much of what I saw was progress in solving those long-standing problems. But I also saw a desire to live a better life for the planet we all share.
I moved to Silicon Valley for an MBA in Sustainability and soon joined a startup working at the forefront of smart cities and the Internet of Things (IoT). While working on the project, I took the approach of assessing what resources I had. This is the first time I’ve seen design thinking that turns this approach upside down. Instead of asking what could be created with few resources, we were asked to first imagine the ideal outcome without considering technical or resource constraints. Imagine what the most desirable solution would be if you had a magic wand. Then, with a larger set of potential solutions that meet the needs of the people you’re designing for, narrow those options down to those that are technically feasible and viable from a business model perspective. This approach dramatically improved the solutions we came up with and sparked our team’s creativity.
Many times in my life I started thinking about the resources I didn’t have access to or how my path was harder than the successful people I saw around me. I was asked to put it on hold and instead articulate what the ideal outcome would be. I’ve seen it used successfully many times by people in I began to wonder if this approach could be used not only for new products and services, but also for our future.
As I looked around for inspiration on what the future could hopefully look like, I saw some examples. Most of them were funny but dystopian stories about how to destroy yourself with nuclear weapons, killer robots, AI, climate disasters, and disease. But there have been very few prescient, positive versions of any kind of future that we might actually want to live in. It is one of the most famous futuristic sci-fi series, which envisions a society that has advanced to an advanced world.From this vision, many innovators have gone on to create handheld communicators (mobile phones), non-lethal phasers (electric tasers), tablet computers, and touch interface screens. , Replicator (3D printer), Impulse Space Engine and other technologies. Treconomics I’m also asking about how a society like Star Trek might actually be implemented and work in the future. It shows that having an ideal vision inspires people to understand the “how” to build it.
This isn’t Pollyanna’s optimism or simply wishing for the best. It’s about thinking about what you want your future to be, designing that vision, and building it. Fortunately, opportunities abound all around us if we want to participate in creating a sustainable, prosperous and equitable future.
climate tech startup Raises $40 billion This was actually a 3% drop from 2021, but compared to a 35% drop in overall VC spending last year due to recession fears, it’s easy to see where the future bets are placed. . CEO of BlackRock Larry Fink recently said The next $100 billion unicorn will belong to climate tech. Billionaire and Shark Tank investor Chris Sacca calls The combination of government regulation and financial support has made this opportunity “unfair”, shifting intergenerational consumer demand to sustainable and ethical products and services, and investing vast amounts of capital in innovation in this sector. is directed.
And the tools to launch, fund, run, and work with climate tech startups are more available than ever. These tools and resources have not only become available globally, but have also been democratized by the adoption of remote work. surge since pandemicTools like Zoom, Asana, and Miro can help you collaborate effectively anywhere in the world. Crowdfunding has unlocked billions of dollars in startup or project funding to founders that may have been overlooked by traditional VCs in the past. stock crowdfunding Sites like Wefunder and StartEngine now allow everyday non-billionaire investors to share in the fast-growing potential of future-creating startups. More than ever, futuristic Einsteins, Elon Mascus, and Maya Her Angelus from the far corner of the globe now have access to the world stage.
We can draw inspiration from the fact that we are part of a long legacy of hardworking innovators and future creators who have brought us the abundance and comforts we enjoy today. 150 Years Ago, Global child mortality It was close to 40%. It is now down to less than 4%. Advances in medicine and health have cured and immunized many of the diseases our ancestors suffered and died from. Today literacy is almost universal, up from just 12% in 1820.violent crime plummeted since then the industrial revolution and even from the 1990sdespite how much you see in the news.
We live in what our ancestors considered utopia, and it’s safe to say that we have a lot to be grateful for. Crises and challenges may lie ahead of us, but we have more power than ever to solve them. Much work remains to be done to respond to the progress made by previous generations. Make them proud by building an incredible future. We have the resources, knowledge and tools to make it happen.