3 Ideas on How to Navigate the 2020's: Curiosity, Connection & Community.

The marine who will fight our wars is sitting in 5th grade, the President is just taking the oath of office in a state legislature, the next Jeff Bezos is working in a dead-end job inventing a technology that doesn't even exist, the first human to walk on Mars hasn’t even sat for their drivers permit exam yet — each one of these people who will define our world in 2030 are out there and somehow the rest of us need to find a way to survive and thrive in this next decade.

Here are 3 ideas on how to navigate the 2020's.

Curiosity

The 2020’s will see a re-imagining of every facet of human civilization and the reality is that most of us will struggle to keep up with the pace of change. How then will we stay competitive in the age of automation? I got the answer to that question a few months ago at an e-sports tournament that my son Nabeel was competing in. “It’s not the bots that I am worried about...it’s the 15 year-old kid that’s spending 10 hours a day grinding at the game to take my spot.” I overheard this line from one of the worlds top #esports players. The comment struck me, because it spoke to the power of a #growthmindset. The same concept can be applied to how we view competing in the age of automation.

Our fear of being replaced by robots and navigating the future starts with recognizing that our biggest competition will come from those people who are willing to out-learn and outgrow us.

If we are to evolve in this next decade then it means each one of us must embrace the power of curiosity. Are we willing to ask difficult questions about the world around us --- are we willing to challenge our own assumptions and are we willing to invest the time to acquire new skills to navigate a changing world? Curiosity will help us engage and address climate change and tackle the strands of hatred that surface in the forms of rising global anti-Semitism, oppression against the Muslim Uighurs in China and those corners of planet earth like Venezuela and Syria where despotism reigns. The engine behind meaningful change and progress is the human attribute of Curiosity.

Connection

There are over 2.45 billion users of the Facebook platform and yet more than 47% of adult Americans report loneliness (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/envy/201902/loneliness-new-epidemic-in-the-usa). With that being said, our ability to navigate this next decade depends on our ability to build and foster deeper points of connection with the people around us - starting with our family and friends. Authentic human connection begins by turning on our empathy nerve. We must find a way to more deeply appreciate and respect the lived experiences of those around us.

I was reminded of the power and beauty of human connection during our recent #FIU Civil Rights & Public History Fellowship trip to Montgomery, Alabama https://mailchi.mp/debab76d1449/the-sunday-briefing-23196?e=33b5b2625c. During one of our stops at the Dexter Avenue Memorial Baptist Church, we were greeted by a community docent named Wanda Howard. Wanda had survived homelessness and all forms of suffering and yet she had channeled love to share the story of this first church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had served as pastor. As each visitor entered the church we were greeted with the deepest of embraces in the form of a hug --- one was easily reminded of the quote from Dr. King:

"Agape means understanding, redeeming goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love which is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless and creative. It is not set in motion by any quality or function of its object. Agape is disinterested love. It is a love in which the individual seeks not his own good, but the good of his neighbor"

Community

As we examine the global landscape in this coming decade, we see increasing forms of polarization and division at unprecedented levels. How do we bring goodness back to the public square? The answer to that question comes in one simple form --- we must recommit to the power of community. This past year, I saw a beautiful example of this power of community on the heels of our #FIU historic win of (30-24) against the University of Miami on November 23rd. The outpouring of civic pride from both within our #FIU community and from outside in the broader Miami illustrated what it looks like when a group of people channel their shared experiences in this powerful way. The sense of community was not built at the expense of our on-field competitors, but rather through a shared sense of joy on the fruits of decades long perseverance and sacrifice in building an institution. The American Enterprise Institute scholar Yuval Levin, in his forthcoming book "A Time to Build" puts forth the idea that "now is not a time to tear down, but rather to build and rebuild by committing ourselves to the institutions around us."

As we navigate this next decade, we must choose to build and uplift the public square through a commitment to community. I am grateful to be part of a team at #FIU in the Office of Engagement that supports our students, faculty and staff in establishing win-win partnerships with the community in the name of impact.

Conclusion

The next decade will bring forces of disruption that most of us cannot even imagine. Ultimately, it is our uniquely human values that will help us traverse this landscape.

Our success in this next decade will also require that we don't repeat the mistakes of our past. I am reminded by my daughter Rania, of a dark chapter in Miami's history of exactly 100 years ago when 3 young men of color were lynched -- sadly there is no memorial to their murders. During my recent time in Montgomery, Alabama I saw a quote from Dr. Maya Angelou about history that might indeed best capture the spirit we must all embrace to build the future.

"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."-Dr. Maya Angelou

Curiosity.....Connection....Community --- are guideposts on how we might face the world that is coming in the 2020's, but Courage must remain our compass.