Because It’s There

Sir Edmund Hillary, the man who first climbed Everest, was once asked why he did it. The answer was “because it’s there.” It is a line that many motivational speakers have used to inspire their followers. Set a goal. Keep your eye on it. Work your way towards it. Achieve it.

In today’s world this may not be as easy as it seems. What do I mean?

We live in a world that is changing rapidly. Students are being taught skills that might not be necessary in the future for jobs that might not exist.

For example, I worked in television until the mid-eighties. I figure if I went back to that profession I would have to be retrained. Certainly the theory of television production would still be there, but the technical side is totally different. When I started in 1972, we were using two-inch videotape. When I left in 1987, three-quarter inch cassettes were the norm. Now everything is digital.

How do you predict where you are going when where you are going might not be there when you arrive? What do you do if your target keeps moving?

Rather than planting your roots in the soil, perhaps it will be the person who reacts to change the best, like a surfboarder, who will drink the victor’s champagne. People used to work for one company for most of their lives. Now this is the exception rather than the rule.

Like the microsecond images in a music video that keep raining down to be processed by our brains, much of our time will be spent sifting through the input. We will then have to quickly act upon it before the next onslaught of information.

All of this leads to stress. Hopefully the technology we are creating will help us deal with this rapid change.

The person standing on top of the mountain will be the one who can manage change and the mountains of information the best and take advantage of it.