it's the changemaker economy now

In response to Bill Clinton's now world famous proclamation that Hillary Clinton is the best darn changemaker he ever met, Yahoo National Political Columnist Matt Bai commented, "I find the whole phrase changemaking incredibly irritating because I don't know what it means.  It sounds like someone at a bank doling out bills"

I think this pretty much sums up the problem with the media today.  The focus is on problems and events, not the context and solutions.

For starters, how could anyone be irritated by a phrase they don't understand in this day and age?   Look it up.  Here.  Using Google trends, it's clear the term changemaker has been around a long time and usage trend is positive.  

The bigger question is why isn't this the story and not just the headline that night brought forward by media around the world, including Forbes, Hong Kong Standard, Huffington Post, The Japan Times, Bloomberg, Les Echos, The New York Times, Hindustan Times, CNBC, ABC News, The Straits Times and the Wall Street Journal,

The word changemaker appears for a reason.   It's beyond politics or even good government.  This is the most important skill of our time because the most important issue of our time is that we are in a world defined by change. The world has already changed so profoundly that none of the current systems and institutions can handle it.  As a result, we find ourselves in a state of increasing instability. Brexit, Trump, climate change denial, universal basic income referendums are no accidents.  Bill Drayton, who coined the term changemaker,  said, "the biggest problem we have is that people don’t yet see the change that’s going on".

The biggest change is change itself.  Technology is reshaping everything at such a rapid pace that rules can't keep up.  Exponential change cannot be controlled so the world needs to adapt.  The next 10 years will be marked by increasing chaos where new skills and governance structures are required to succeed.  

This may seem like hype. Given the lack of media coverage, it is understandable.  Technology creates jobs but these don't replace at nearly the rate to keep up with population growth and elimination of routine and knowledge jobs.   Alarmingly, in February of this year, the White House Council of Economic Advisors reported the odds at 83% that low income workers will lose their job to a machine, and 31% for middle class jobs will be replaced. Machines that can learn mean no job is secure.  Doing a news search, I could find only two or three articles that highlighted this finding, and none tying it to the context of an historic moment of change. Missing also is the coverage of real world solutions taking shape.

In the changemaker economy, we need more problem solvers to outrun the problems, and cognitive-based empathy living for the good of all comes first. US Education Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan confirmed that "the key factor of success for any society going forward is what percentage of its people are change-makers," and "the most vital attribute in the world is the ability to "see the world through another's eyes."  

I'm optimistic thanks to the amazing transformational leadership coming from social entrepreneurs, business and government innovators and changemakers in every aspect of our society.  I see it every day in my work.  The leaders of the previous 3 companies I've worked,  Reid Hoffman & Jeff Weiner, Steve Berglund, Roger Strauch & Dan Miller all prized changemaking.  Those perceived wrong who get it right. Changemakers can be definitely irritating to those who do not see the historic moment.  This is why helping society see the historic moment is the laser focus of Ashoka's work.  The clearer society sees it, the faster we will all organize and act in the best interests of all.