Over the past several decades, a growing number of authors have given various names to the profound changes occurring in our world. There has been a consistent movement toward transformative change, which clearly points to a paradigm shift. I believe we all feel it, whether we recognize it or not. It’s having a seismic effect on how we live and work.
I’m calling it The Big Event. I mean, it’s huge! I’m especially fascinated by the organizational responses. Companies embrace the power of a story or narrative to make a difference in how their mission is described, perceived, and delivered to the world. I’m inspired by the importance and attention the Harvard Business Review and McKenzie & Company are giving to softer skills. I’m encouraged by the compassion and concern now shown to employees, who, just decades before, were expected to get the job done no matter what. Equally significant, some employees are saying keep your promotion so that I can have a life.
Governments and many corporate giants are alert and awake to what really matters and what stands between them and their goals. And now they have mandated additional sets of humanity-based priorities.
The Big Event has also been shaking up the practice of law in the US. The legal world sees the impact on the lives of attorneys and acknowledges a need for change. Overcoming the exhausting pursuit of billable hours and achieving greater and greater success creates mounting work-life challenges, some with dire consequences.
As a result of the changes, we are becoming more naturally drawn to experiences that touch us from the inside out. We want to feel more and understand the meaning of our lives, and the roles we play in the changes that are unfolding. We want to explore more about ourselves, discover our individual purpose and live within it. It’s important to us that we make a difference: we are questioning more, seeking deeper answers, and demanding systemic changes. We have become more self-observant, and, there is greater urgency to undo centuries of thinking that is not sustainable to our collective health and growth. We benefit by tuning in to what others are sharing and observing as they too learn to play a more significant role in our future.
And nothing matters more than the choices we make today.
