New Ways of Living and Working – The growing importance of communities
In the industrial age, which has been replaced
by the information age (but many people still don’t realize this yet), life and
work was divided like this:
- - Citizen
- - Companies
- - Cities
- - Countries
As citizen, we did work in companies, which
where located in cities. If we did work in other cities, the commute challenge
was added to the equation. And it did matter in which country you did live and
work.
These old ways of living and working are
now rapidly changing.
Lifetime employment for a company has
completely vanished. Especially large companies are having difficulties in
adapting to the information age. Almost all (needed) innovation comes from
small companies, specifically startups.
Countries are also loosing their power. The
level of trust is also here (like with companies) at an all-time low. People
don’t trust their governments and politicians any more. Cities are becoming like countries in
themselves, look at the sheer size of mega cities. Many cities have now more
inhabitants than my whole country (The Netherlands -16M).
The crises (financial, economical,
environmental), which we endure since 2008, show no sign of retreating. It is
therefor crucial to focus on two new entities, which are (and should be)
facilitating innovation as well as new ways of living and working.
- - Cyberspace
- - Communities
There is already a lot been written about
cyberspace and the benefits that it brings to our living and working. E.g. commuting is no longer needed, I can
work globally from the comfort of my home; ‘the internet of things’ enables me
to monitor (from a distance) and manage the energy consumption in my house, as
well as the safety. Transparency in the ways of operating within companies and
countries has been increased, due to the availability and sharing of
information (either voluntarily or forced).
I do believe in the growing importance of
communities for both our living and our working. Instead of using sources
outside of your city/country for example oil from the Middle East, and food
from big farms in South America, more and more is sourced locally. This
‘insourcing’ creates employment and decreases the burden on the environment.
New ways of working can be provided by promoting a local ecosystem of
entrepreneurs.
By combining these new ways of living and
working within communities, the highly needed impulse is given to both our
societies as well as our personal happiness.
What do you think?
Enthusiasm drives Excellence!
