Fear of Change
Mark Evans
Daily Lifelong Learner with experience in Aerospace | Manufacturing | Lean | Industry 4.0
A time of great change and social upheaval was during the first industrial revolution. We are now in a similar time period.
Almost every invention is labor saving. Anything that saves labor reduces human dependency and therefore induces a fear of change reaction. Me Too...!!! I’m no different. This is natural. It is human.
Over the centuries and even millennia, there are countless examples of this playing out time and again.
Imagine the steam shovel replacing literally a hundred men with hand shovels to do the same job overnight. The automobile is an example of an entire system being replaced. No more horses, stables, feed, barns, wagons etc... and the popping up of cars, roads, gasoline etc...
A lot of this Smart Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, Internet of Things and especially Robotics stuff can sound kind of scary to people. Like I said... I’m no different than any of you. I fear change also at times. But whether we fear change or not. Change doesn’t care. Change IS still coming...
I don’t know any better than any of you what is to come but I just look at history and my tiny place in the big scheme of things. I look at all the massive changes that did take place and I see that life is probably no more or less scary than those who have gone before us.
We can mitigate this risk to ourselves by continuous learning and improvement and the constant betterment of ourselves. Be adaptable and forward looking. Be ready to re-invent yourself on a dime. Humans have always done this and we always will.