Four Lessons for Surviving Our ‘Brave New World’

“O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't!” - William Shakespeare, The Tempest: V.1.184-187

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is the kind of book most people read in high school - I know I did. But Huxley’s focus on society and the role of science is particularly interesting in the context of today’s struggle to accept and embrace automation and AI.

Thanks to the dystopian nature of the plot, you might think that a ‘brave new world’ is one dominated by science and technology. It isn’t that at all. ‘Brave new world’ is a quote from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, quoted by one of the characters in the book to reject everything associated with socially engineered “civilization” over 600 years in the future.

To read my reflections on automation and artificial intelligence, check out this week’s article on Art of Procurement .

There are four distinct survival lessons that procurement and supply chain professionals can learn from Brave New World in 2024.

Don’t Throw Out the Old in Order to Reach for the New

In the book, separating knowledge from understanding is one of the ways the Controllers keep the masses in check. When people’s understanding of something is shallow, it is easier to have authority over them.

Anyone who didn’t fit in was exiled, although if that did happen, they were probably going to be happier outside of “civilization.” As Huxley writes about these individuals, “All the people who, for one reason or another, have got too self-consciously individual to fit into community-life. All the people who aren't satisfied with orthodoxy, who’ve got independent ideas of their own. Every one, in a word, who’s any one” (p. 227)

This applies to supply chain in ways that we observe all the time. It is absolutely critical to have a solid grasp of the fundamentals, as well as to know (and be able to explain) why those beliefs or practices are fundamental.

No idea should ever be thrown away altogether or considered expired. For instance, lean thinking was dismissed in the disruptions that followed the pandemic, but in some cases it is still the most strategic and effective approach. The same is true of sourcing from China. Sure there are concerns, and alternatives should be qualified, but for some products and materials, China is still the best way to go. Evaluating each idea on its merits in your unique situation can actually make ‘old’ ideas new again.

Embrace the Chaos

“You can’t make tragedies without social instability,” writes Huxley. I would add to that: “You can’t make tragedies [or triumphs] without social instability.”?

My understanding of this statement is that the price of stability is mediocrity - and who wants that? Huxley creates a society where uncontrolled change is undesirable: “Every change is a menace to stability” (p. 224).

With inspiration and beauty being considered dangerous, art and science are equally incompatible with happiness. Early in the book, an instructor asks his presumably college-age students, “Has any of you ever encountered an insurmountable obstacle?” (p. 45) Based on their bewildered response, the answer is clearly no, but they aren’t worried about it and they don’t feel driven to attack obstacles either.

This fictional future is no place for entrepreneurs.

The lesson for us is to see opportunity and advantage in the chaos that surrounds us. We have to stop fearing uncertainty, and for goodness sake, stop longing for things to go back to 'normal' or to become more predictable. Lean in; learn to thrive in the chaos.

Fight for Solitude and Make the Most of It

Solitude is considered dangerous and questionable. No one is supposed to consider anything more than what they have been conditioned to know or what they can see before them. A belief in something bigger might teach people to be patient with discomfort and frustration, both of which ultimately lead to change - still undesirable.

“In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic. Conditions have to be thoroughly unstable before the occasion can arise” (p. 237)

I’m an introvert, so this is easy for me to say, but the lesson is to balance solitude with time in community. Have your own thoughts - choose your own way - whether with technology or so called ‘best practices.’

Be patient with discomfort AND frustration. In them lies genius and heroism.

Find the Other Savages

In Brave New World, people are educated intellectually as well as morally. In the case of moral instruction (or social conditioning) hypnosis is used to permanently and passively implant ideas in people’s minds, while they are sleeping, through tightly controlled repetition.

Without the same conditioning, others can’t be part of the community. John the Savage is a character who was ‘rescued’ (I use that word very loosely) from a Savage Reservation, where people live just like we do today, and brought to “civilization.”?

He isn’t conditioned. He wants more - and expects more of himself in return.

John can’t stand being alone. He’s fine alone with himself, but the idea of being alone in the midst of a civilization that considers him an oddity is too much. Everyone else prizes ignorance, compliance, and group think. Rather than being exiled with other independent thinkers, he is exiled in the midst of a mindless crowd.

It may not always be peaceful or consensus-based, but spend time with people you disagree with, people who have a different perspective than you do. People who think and dream savagely.

Know when to part from the crowd, and don’t EVER allow something positioned as knowledge or information to become a moral judgment or an assessment of your self worth. Keep the personal and professional separate.

In Brave New World, the World State Motto is “Community, Identity, Stability” (p. 3). I’d prefer Art, Science, Progress - even if it is messy. The ‘brave new world’ depicted in Huxley’s book is not about science, technology, and innovation. It is an ironic observation - originally spurred by an innocent appreciation of diverse humanity.

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