Seeing the Future in the Past

Unless human nature changes drastically, we can expect that much of the future will be seen and understood by studying the past.

No, Henry Ford will not come from the grave to challenge the likes of Tesla or Hyundai. But humans will continue to act much as we have done in the past.

For example, we allowed the overgrazing of pasture lands and the overfishing of the sea off New England, and we will continue to do what’s best for us as individuals but destroy a “common resource.” We see this today in the continued building of housing projects in the desert communities in the southwest. Water is the common that we are overusing. And that’s the Tragedy of the Commons archetype.

We will continue to escalate wars – both political and business. That’s the Escalation archetype.

We will continue to alleviate symptoms while not solving real problems. That’s called Shifting the Burden.

The above are categorized under the heading “systems archetypes” which are, essentially, patterns of human behavior. We’ve repeatedly acted in certain ways in the past and present and, likely, will do so in the future.

Here are a few more of the most common archetypes.

• Fixes that fail

• Limits to success

• Success to the successful

• Growth and underinvestment

• Accidental adversaries

You’d do well to look at how these archetypes played out in the past if you want to know what to expect in the future

These and other archetypes will be explained and explored in our upcoming hybrid course. Please click HERE if you’d like to receive information about the upcoming course.

Next week: Why? the unanswered question.

Cheers,

Bill