We live in a complex world.  The cycles of change that could once be measured in generations now occur in a window of ten years to as briefly as six months.  The product development life cycle of an automobile that was sixty months in 1990 is now typically under 24 months.  The pace of change is legendary in fields such as technology and biomedicine.  Less obvious is the quickening pace of change in material sciences, construction, financial services and even the education industry.  Not to be left behind, our legal and legislative system continues to institute new compliance regulations that we need to heed.

 

Nowhere is keeping up with the cycles of change more complex than in the continually changing training and development needs of the knowledge economy. Employees need to be able to perfom their daily tasks, while still having the opportunity to develop the skills and competencies that they will need to help their companies stay ahead of emerging changes.

To thrive in this current reality, individuals must embrace change and take appropriate actions to benefit from what change has to offer, and perhaps to become agents of change themselves.  Continuous learning is the key.  Expanding knowledge and skills, leading to new and enhanced abilities not only helps individuals to adapt to the cycles of change, but also is a critical component of satisfaction in both work and non-work activities. 

 

Organizations will succeed or fail based on their ability to recognize the cycles of change taking place and take actions to ensure that their engine of change – their employees – have the tools and mandate to be continuous learners.  In many cases, the organizations also have the fiduciary responsibility to ensure that their employees are certified and in compliance with specific knowledge, skills and abilities.