A high standard of living presupposes an economy of innovation and change.
Peter Drucker in The Effective Executive
This sentence blew me away when I read it. How often do people resist change? Yet, the high standard of living we have enjoyed in North America and Europe over the years has demanded change.
And change will happen whether we resist it or not. We can fight it like the guy in my cartoon. We can rationalize that disturbing the flow of things will kill spontaneity. But if we are willing to let things lie, change will come in unpredictable ways and we won’t be ready for it.
Prosperity happens in our economy when we see change is coming and make adjustments to roll with it. We won’t get it right all the time. We may stumble and decide we need to go another way, but being willing to change with the times will reap dividends in the end.
Maybe the guy will change before he has a forest on his hood. Then again, maybe he will see the dirt and new growth differently and open the first mobile, urban garden. Hey! maybe the change required for him is to see car washing as an old habit that is due for a rework. All of a sudden, some creativity and what-if’s opens some opportunities for a new, high standard of living.
