The World 4.0 – Reboot

We are living through what will likely come to be known as the most significant global economic and social shock in history. We will soon enter “The World 4.0” on a global scale. What will become evident as time passes are that all the prevailing economic theories and interventions will have limited impact? The current crisis is unprecedented and anomalous to what we have known until now.

Why “World 4.0” you may ask?

If we consider the last 100 years of world history, then we will soon enter the 4th “new normal” era. An era where, on the surface, very little will change, but in reality, everything will change. This worldwide crisis is not only one of economics, but one of the people.

The end of World War 2 was the first such worldwide era of total change. Not just economic hardship, but also deep and lasting social change. The second worldwide change was “9/11” as it is commonly referred to. It brought deep and lasting social changes, in fact, nothing from air travel to financial services were ever the same. The current worldwide crisis is the third great global shock of profound economic and profound social impact. While the economic impact is what we will experience daily, the deep social impact is going to be the longest-lasting impact.

The so-called 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution) is not what we are talking about here. That doesn’t even come close to the social impact of what we are heading for. We are talking about “The World 4.0.” In essence, we have to “reboot” the world – literally, economically, but more importantly, socially. And to successfully navigate this ‘reboot’, we as leaders have an outsize role to play. And as we know, leadership is not only owning a title. We are talking about leaders of households, communities, organisations and governmental structures. Step up or step aside is the name of the game in The World 4.0.

Fortunately, we have some luminary role models guiding us from recent disasters. As leaders, we are usually expected to fix a bad situation, fast. The reality is that this crisis is going to take some years to fix. As leaders, in every sphere of our new world, we must display leadership that carefully balances strong future-focused elements with deep compassion for the people in our care. And if we try to fool the world by chasing profits under the guise of compassion, we will be found out. A crisis of this social magnitude has that effect.

We are predicting that The World 4.0 will redefine what it means to show strong leadership. A strong leader in The World 4.0 is must be someone who can withstand the relentless focus on profits and can balance the interests of all stakeholders. We often hear about “authentic leadership” and its importance and now the time has come where the current crisis will separate the truly authentic leaders from the pretenders.

What are some of the characteristics needed by authentic leaders? Great optimism, albeit tempered with the grave reality of the current situation – a sense of realism. Hope and being able to impart that hope authentically. Authentic values that include the knowledge that our people are the answer. Creating purpose – imparting meaning to face the tough times we are all facing bravely. Welcome to The World 4.0.

4 May 2020 – Peter Venter

Group CEO, Vinton Holdings