Opinion Sur
As a result of a combination of social, technological and environmental forces, the world faces a stage of vertiginous acceleration that exceeds the thresholds of contention that were known so far. The speed of change makes complex economic processes difficult to manage, leaving countries exposed to harsh episodes of systemic recklessness with very serious and destructive consequences. Which changes would it be necessary to address?As a result of a combination of social, technological and environmental forces, the world faces a stage of vertiginous acceleration that exceeds the thresholds of contention that were known so far. The speed of change1 makes the complex economic processes difficult to manage, leaving countries exposed to harsh episodes of systemic recklessness with very serious and destructive consequences.
This situation requires addressing drastic changes in the way of operating, the following among others.
(i)In periods of acceleration it is necessary –more than ever- to focus on the systemic course, as we can reach where we are headed much faster piling up desired and undesired effects, the latter with the possibility of being dramatically traumatic; the imperative is to ensure the direction since power is not something that is missing. Having a course implies making explicit the type of system that is looked for, the results that are being pursued and expected, how they are meant to be obtained including their environmental impact and how results will be distributed among countries and social sectors.
(ii)In order to avoid and not only mitigate incidents of systemic recklessness, it is a must to establish more effective mechanisms of process regulation, a critical yet also controversial aspect as it is difficult to determine the right dose of intervention with accuracy: too little regulation makes frantic behavior possible and too much may stifle our initiative.
(iii)It will also be necessary to design early alarm mechanisms in order to detect sidetracks or undesired effects; the typical alarms, those that perceive the outburst of an event once it takes place, are not sufficient because in contexts of acceleration they do not allow us to react in time and act accordingly; we need alarms that go off when what will become fast events start being glimpsed.
(iv)Not being a uniform or universal phenomenon, contemporary acceleration ends up aggravating the processes of differentiation; it generates winners and losers among and within countries faster. In the current systemic circumstances new beneficiaries may emerge, yet in general there are many more harmed people, that thicken the majorities that lag behind and deepen social and international disputes; as a consequence, coexistence, security and even democratic governance are dramatically affected. Acceleration forces the adoption as a critical dimension of the new course of comprehensive strategies aimed to avoid reproducing, and even more so aggravating, inequality.
(v)Contemporary acceleration leads to take decisions based on information that is generated along the way. Well or not so well, we make out what is familiar while the new erupts challenging our comprehension. The sudden changes of circumstances shorten the time for reflection and demand quick pronouncements, increasing the possibility of erring, of acting at the wrong moment, of not perceiving the complexity of novel processes. We need to acquire new frameworks of analysis, various types of approaches free from ideological fundamentalisms, to be open to grasp the new phenomena, to anticipate their consequences and to propose a more diverse range of solutions tailored to the very different local situations.
Leading in these conditions requires to thoroughly understand these and other critical aspects of the new circumstances; to know how to adjust to contemporary speed and complexity; to count on teams that are qualified and experienced in facing unexpected situations; pilots with mettle that know how to lead in the frenzy of the acceleration and agilely react without overlooking the ethical compass that enables to maintain the course agreed upon beyond the needed short term maneuvers.
We still have to see if it is possible to lower contemporary acceleration. Maybe by adjusting the systemic course, speed would cede some more ground to quality of life; growing speeds leave their mark in people and organizations. Acceleration should lead us to take better care of the prized humanity; it is not a choice to sacrifice the environment, social justice, spiritual development. We need appropriate spaces to recover our rhythms and abilities, our creativity, our capacity to reflect, to contemplate; we need to disengage from acceleration’s constant frenzy. Dawns, dusks, affections, relationships, enigmas can dazzle us way beyond rushes and desires.
If resisting contemporary speed and acceleration were some kind of mission impossible, then what would be at stake would be how to channel them through new strategies for the benefit of the social ensemble, preserving the environment and enabling the full deployment of our human essence -closely linked to the never ending search of adding meaning and justice to our lives.
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Note: A quick overview of the acceleration with which the contemporary context is changing can be seen in this video. I thank Marcelo de Santis for inspiring the writing of this article.
