“Time feels like it is accelerating.”

In a December post in Rapport, Deb Westphal opted to skip making a New Year’s resolution, in favor of looking forward. As I step into the Toffler Associates CEO role this January, I am focused on the future of the firm and its unwavering commitment to be a catalyst for change and future value for our clients. 

I work with an organization whose executives struggle daily to advance a mission, achieve meaningful results that yield growth, and align its people around a shared vision. They are failing. Every day. They’re not unusual.

Every day in the U.S., approximately 10,000 Baby Boomers leave the workforce. While there’s talk of a talent gap, the actual size of the labor force continues to grow year over year.^[1] The employment market is hitting a tipping point in 2015, at which point, there will be more young professionals in the marketplace than tenured individuals. By 2025, it’s projected that Millennials will represent approximately 75% of American employees.

Desynchronization [n] The relation that exists when things occur at unrelated times.

As we move deeper into the election cycle, it is a good time for corporate and political leaders to consider the impact desynchronization has on key issues and how they are managing the implications of these varying rates of change.

A look back at the 1996 election cycle shows we were beginning to address issues like the voice of the digital generation, economies shaped by microtrade and microcapital, and social democratization caused by widespread technology access and adoption.

If we look at those issues today, they are very much a part of the fiber of our political, economic, educational and enterprise sectors. It’s certainly interesting to look at the amount of change that’s occurred over two decades. For leaders, however, it’s far more important to understand the rates of change, the conflict and opportunities being created from the differences, and how to adapt to resultant shifts.

I recently spoke with the CEO of a large, multi-layered global organization. After six decades of building operational strength through a command and control/top-down structure, employee communication has become an area of overwhelming concern. The pace of technological change and ubiquity of social media as a mode of human connection has completely changed the way organizations must disseminate information.

One of the first things we are taught when learning to drive is the simple principle of "look where you want to go." This principle is especially critical for racecar drivers who travel four or five times the speed of the average motorist.