My work takes me to interesting places. A couple weeks ago it was UW–Milwaukee and the chancellor’s office, where Mark Mone convened an Industry 4.0 group focused on an ongoing effort to engage Wisconsin manufacturers around the forces transforming industry. It was a spirited conversation about a complex issue with important implications for Wisconsin’s future. We didn’t come up with many clear answers, just the start of a small path forward.
The experience got me to thinking about the dozens of important issues facing us. Almost all of them are complex and interrelated. Wisconsin has broad exposure — my list included a couple dozen critical topics. As I looked at that list, I realized very few could be solved by one person, or even one organization. Exponential change drives complexity and speed, creating a new paradox where expertise becomes vital, but experts are less important. It’s very difficult to identify all the issues and then understand the key perspectives around each one. Of course, creating solutions is another tough task.
Yet, engagement around the issues is vital to keep Wisconsin vibrant across several fronts:
- Economic — making all of our companies competitive;
- Educational — fully employing our universities and technical colleges while developing future students to push our success to new frontiers;
- Societal — creating true opportunities for all;
- Rural Development — establishing the strategies and infrastructure necessary for our smaller communities to flourish; and
- Environmental — preserving our natural resources and their abiding beauty.
I’m sure there are other categories. Still, these alone represent a sizable challenge.
Think about how many critical issues touch multiple categories on the list above. That interconnection makes them more complex and there just aren’t enough resources to address them individually. In addition, these issues evolve and morph as we learn more and expand our horizons. They affect everyone (including us), so it makes sense for all of us to lend a hand. Shouting at each other rarely works and avoidance never does. Personal engagement is not optional.
Again, no single person or organization can address even one of these issues by themselves. There are not enough resources. Too many are interconnected and require diverse solutions. Finally, there are no quick solutions. Persistence and focus become key ingredients of any approach.
Add to the mix the paradox created by exponential change between experts and expertise. Expertise becomes vitally important because you need the best thinking, fueled by facts, to address complex issues. The paradox develops as guides become much more important than experts. Guides can find experts with the right expertise for most situations and then fit that expertise into the bigger picture. In this new scenario, solutions become adventures and the focus of collaborative efforts, rather than destinations and singular answers. Journeys require guides. Snake bites along the way require experts.
(Continued)
I’m incredibly optimistic about our journey despite all this complexity. Wisconsin is in great position to meet the future. Our people routinely turns ideas into reality. We have terrific assets like strong manufacturing, education, economic development, and natural resources. Two transformational organizations — Haribo and Foxconn — will join our ecosystem, bringing new ideas that accelerate change. Finally, a strong spirit of collaboration is building among us, making it easier to make the most of exponential change.
Progress requires focused approaches and genuine openness to new ideas. Our efforts must focus on tangible results, not just activities. They must start with collaborative and cooperative action to identify promising initiatives already in motion. Everyone involved must be open to good ideas and effective compromise. They must accept that there can be multiple approaches to any situation.
Exponential change impacts all of us and will continue to accelerate. Everyone must engage — both as organizations and individuals — in the challenges facing us. Organizations must collaborate with other groups to identify the best solutions and move faster. All of us as individuals must update our own skills to remain relevant in the future. Together we will make Wisconsin even better as we move forward.
Click here to sign up for the free IB ezine — your twice-weekly resource for local business news, analysis, voices, and the names you need to know. If you are not already a subscriber to In Business magazine, be sure to sign up for our monthly print edition here.
