The senseless violence that befell some of America’s best representatives in Libya last week, the need to launch QE3 measures by our Federal Reserve, and the clash of educational ideals in one of our major cities last week offers a heavy dose of reality for even the most optimistic among us. One could ask what is NOT wrong?
First, there are thousands of people starting companies each day, and because of today’s scalable technology, they are pretty sure they are going to dominate their market worldwide. Most won’t, some will. Great stories like this one about the companies launched from the 10x Accelerator are common around the country, and more and more youth and displaced/disenfranchised experienced workers are striking out to determine their own destiny through entrepreneurship.
Second, the generational shift occurring worldwide will push younger managers into significant positions of power. This is a daunting responsibility, but will certainly bring different thinking to the big decisions within our organizations worldwide. Generation X and Generation Y (especially Generation Y) are beginning to change the definition of work, the workplace, and success. This is good news and will impact communities as much as companies.
Third, globalization is coming full circle and counter intuitively, the global economy is making local more important. Local leadership, local food security and production, and regional manufacturing are all exciting topics among thought leaders. Building global relationships and applying them to benefit our communities is necessary and more possible than ever. We’re more aware of the world, and the world is more aware of us, which is having an impact on how we educate our school children and operate our organizations.
We have challenges, we have bigger opportunities. Let’s have a great week. Please email me your thoughts and ideas for this blog and for our team at One Columbus.
One Columbus update
We have a tired and yet energized team reporting back to the Columbus Region from China and California this week. Thank you to everyone who helped One Columbus to execute some exciting outreach on behalf of the 11-county Central Ohio area.
Thank you to Time journalist Rana Foroohar for joining us for the Columbus Sister Cities annual meeting Friday. Rana brought a great perspective on the global economy. Congrats to Barb Pratzner and her team for all the work they do to connect the Columbus area to the world.
-Kenny McDonald