-Chief Seattle
This quote brings about an entirely new way of looking at how people should use the world's resources. In contrast to the traditional view of claiming ownership on the resources available, Chief Seattle suggests that these resources are not ours to use, that we have to preserve the Earth for future generations and that this responsibility lies on our shoulders. It made me realize that often, it is our perspective on things that shape the way we do things. In this example, a person who subscribes to the traditional way of thinking would feel that he has every right to use any resource available, whether it is of limited supply or not, to produce whatever he wants. A person who holds the same view as Chief Seattle, on the other hand, would first contemplate the impact of their decision on future generations before using up the resources. And as the world enters a time when the oil reserves are depleting and a new source of energy is required, I think that the we need more people who think as responsibly as Chief Seattle.
Which brings us to today's topic of the Drivers of World Change. Vanessa's presentation was about the difference in expectations that the modern greens and traditional conservatives have of the future. The modern greens believe that although the oil reserves we have are depleting, human kind would be able to find alternative sources of energy to sustain the use of technology in the future, and are hence less worried. The traditional conservatives on the other hand, foresee a bleak future where there will be insufficient oil for our future use with no other energy sources available. I find that I identify more with the modern greens, because as of now, there is already a lot of research done in the field of renewable energy, even though there is no source that is currently dominant. In fact, it is entirely possible that the energy that we use in the future will not come from one main source, but a combination of many sources.
The next presentation by Ivan was about how Youtube is able to reach audience on a global scale, and the impacts that it will have on the world. I think that Ivan brought up many good discussion questions. Because Youtube allows anyone to upload videos, and because it has the ability to share this information with people around the world, it raises the question of whether the content on Youtube should be censored, and by whom. Someone suggested that different countries should form a council and decide which videos should not be made public. However, Qi Wen brought up a good point that countries would just ban videos that embarrass them. It is also important to note that Youtube is popular because many people are using it and anyone can upload videos. If restrictions were imposed on the type of videos that people can upload, less people might be inclined to use the website, and videos that make a positive impact on society, such as Kony 2012, would have far less reach. I feel that in addressing this problem, education is the way to go. Users should be taught to be discerning and not believe every video that they watch. I feel that this skill is especially useful since anyone is able to post any sort of content online, and viewers should be discerning everytime they view information on the internet.
The second part of the class was on the theme of Change Management and Change Leadership. We learnt the difference between leaders and managers, and how leaders would usually not make good managers. The main difference between leaders and managers is that the conceptual framework is created by the leader, while the manager works within the framework to get others to follow. We also learnt how some countries adopted the freeze-unfreeze-refreeze model of goal setting, while others are continuously changing their aims. I think that the freeze-unfreeze-refreeze model used to work well in the past because change was not as rapid then as it is now. For countries, organisations and businesses to survive well now, they have to be adaptable to current situations and change continuously.
Rating: 8/10
Some of the topics discussed were really interesting.
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