As we move into an uncharted future, it is impossible to predict exactly what we will be doing, where we will be doing it or how we will be working. The quest for certainty is bound to be thwarted. But that doesn’t leave us helpless or passive.
Instead, it challenges us to develop all aspects of human capacity: the ability to absorb, learn and develop technology — but also the human capacity to keep it meaningful, respectful and relevant; the ability to convene a diverse group of people curious about each other and capable of the constructive conflict from which great new thinking emerges; the capacity to listen well in order to gain the greatest insight from a diverse range of perspectives, skills, life experience and thinking styles.
Confronting crises of inequality, polarisation and the need for radical adaptation to climate change, the individuals and organisations that will thrive will be those with the capacity to challenge and support one another in the pursuit of goals that matter to us all. And, of course, we need optimists.