Technology Evolution, Change, and Opportunity

Check out this cool image I found, shared by my friend Vincent Wright (this is an animated image – click the image to see the animation, which goes to BestReviews.com, the company behind the image):

evolution_of_desk1980

As the animation continues you see each of the things on the desk, and the wall, move into the computer… because of apps that replace each of those things.  Here’s what it looks like in 2006, when JibberJobber was started:

evolution_of_desk_2006

 

And here is what the desk looks like in 2015:

evolution_of_desk_2015

Seriously, click on any of the images, or here, to see the animations. It’s pretty cool.

Change.  It is scary. It is disrupting. If you worked at a company making any of the physical things on the desk in the 1980’s, you have probably felt the stress of the technology replacing what you provided.

Scary change.  But you know what?  Change is double-edged… it can cripple one person (who doesn’t manage change) while it can create wealth and stability for another.

Change should be synonymous with opportunity. Because when something changes, there are opportunities for new products of services.

You can be scared, and wait to see how the dust settles, or if you look for opportunities.

If you are not inclined to look for opportunities, be an astute observer of who is identifying and moving on opportunities, and then align yourself with them. In my local market I saw the opportunity-finders and movers in Fusion I/O and Pluralsight… there are others in my market, and I’m sure there are others in your market.

Don’t fear change. It is inevitable. What you will come to realize is that change will have a huge impact on your career. What you do today might be completely different than what you do next year.  Your career in ten or twenty years might be completely different than anything you could imagine.

Scary, I know.  But it’s also very, very exciting.

What role will you play in the change?