There's that delicious period between Christmas that invokes inactivity, not-doing; reflection. The kind of activity people associated with our elders...Surprising then that our calendar starts (doesn't end) with a month named after the God Janus (Ianus) or Goddess Diana (Iana) - the god and goddess of doors, gateways, and endings.
Why isn't January the last month of the year? Well, clearly the sun has something to do with it. The days are now getting longer in the northern hemisphere where the calendar was invented (sorry about that folks down under) suggesting something new emerging. But the moon plays its role too. There's no point doing if you don't know what you've done - so we need a period of reflection and dreaming (night time) in order to be effectively active (during the day).
So what's my advice in the first half of the first week of the second decade of the 21st Century? Develop a swivel neck - learn from the past as you rush towards the future. One of the key sins committed by my generation has to be the sin of undue haste. My generation has experienced more change in 60 years than occurred in previous eras or epochs. We take little time to reflect on what we have had to adjust to before facing something new. Perhaps, that's why New Year's predictions are more popular than resolutions....
If you want some sense of how huge and bewildering is the change we've experienced since 1950 alone, then simply view My-changing-world that I prepared back in 2006. Yes, it could do with some refining and much of the last "column/chapter" is still emerging. But the columns are still highly relevant. Many countries and regions are actually experiencing all economies simultaneously!
So before I contribute my personal predictions for 2010 - as anyone with futurist in her resume is compelled to do - have a quick look at where we've come from and, more importantly, where your organization might be stuck.
