A very Happy Canada Day to all of you, whether you live in Canada or not! This is a country filled with hope, optimism and a sense of inclusivity not found in other parts of the world. And so it was lovely to see the Christ the King statue in Rio lit like the Canadian flag yesterday during world cup! http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/in-canada-day-first-rios-christ-the-redeemer-statue-lit-up-like-your-flag/article19408620/

There is hope in this world.

My Canada Day weekend was also spent in part reading. I’ve been reading Ian Morris’s “Why the West Rules for Now” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9491855-why-the-west-rules-for-now . A giant historical review, Morris takes the reader in the end to some amazing extrapolations about the future. He talks of gigantic forces shaping human development; the relationships between biology, sociology and  geography. And within sociology, that is the how human development rises or falls, is technology.   Consider, he suggests, Moore’s Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law which states essentially that the computing power doubles and computing cost halves every two years.  There is an exponential growth in how we use technology in the last 50 years that is having an unprecedented impact on how we might operate as a species in the next 50. If these trends continue, by about 2030 (according to some) computing power will be able to host human minds. And by mid-century, “computers will be able to host all the minds in the world, effectively merging carbon and silicon based intelligence into a single global consciousness. This will be [what Ray Kurzweill calls] the Singularity.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singularity_Is_Near

And what will leadership look like then?! What will the dominant voices be in that singularity based mind, assuming that is the direction we’re headed?!

Massive questions I know, but their size should not frighten us off them. They need to be explored. I offer three small places to start as leaders looking into the future:

1. Keep learning. Assume that you too need to be growing your intellectual, emotional and spiritual intelligence exponentially just to stay ahead of the curve.
2. Practice collaboration. In an increasingly connected world, the lone hero is increasingly irrelevant. You cannot do it all anymore.
3. Practice inclusivity. There will be huge opportunities to learn from other cultures, other philosophies and ideas in the coming decades. Just as there will be no more room for the lone hero, the idea of a single way, will becoming redundant. We will not be competitors but cooperators.

I look forward to continuing this conversation, so send me a note with your thoughts and comments. I look forward to learning with you.

May this week be one of learning, collaboration and inclusivity for each of us.