Signals from the Future
Health | Innovation | Society
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We’re not In an Era of Change. We’re in a Change Era.
The world isn’t falling apart. It’s reorganizing.
That means one thing:
Reinvention is not optional.
These are the Four Horseman of Modern Disruption that are re-orienting the world
- The Great Unbundling
- The Acceleration Trap
- Wealth Polarization
- Power Shift from Institutions to Individuals
The Great Unbundling
I wrote recently of the Spotifyication of healthcare – how people were creating their own “playlists” of healthcare resources in a crowded and convoluted media ecosystem.
That larger process of unbundling is affecting everyone and every industry.
Everything is fragmenting.
For decades, there were gatekeepers, institutions, and social mores that while at times oppressive (especially if you are a member of certain groups) they created structure and order.
In the collapse of church, democracy, the media and middle class people are left to themselves to self organize and make their own way.
That process is both terrifying and liberating.
We’ve lost shared narratives and instead have competing realities in almost every area of life .
In mythology, there is the story of the hero’s journey in which someone embarks to slay their dragon and learn lessons. If it’s chosen, it can be a vision quest or a journey. If imposed, it is a form of exile.
That seems to be the binary distinction in terms of how people respond now to these rapid evolutions in society, economy and life.
The lesson seems to be this: if you’re following a well worn path, it probably isn’t meant for you.
Create your own trail.
Be a warning or an example, your choice.
The Acceleration Trap
The velocity of technological developments and the rate of social change are outpacing our ability to adapt.
It’s breaking our institutions, personal habits, and certainly Congress.
Technology no longer evolves linearly. It explodes. AI, automation, synthetic biology, and immersive digital worlds aren’t future ideas—they’re already here, outpacing our capacity to absorb them.
What used to take decades to adopt now happens in months. And while previous revolutions replaced muscle, this one replaces mind.
Knowledge workers, once safe atop the value chain, now face competition from language models, decision engines, and code that thinks faster than we do. In this new landscape, speed, adaptation, and leverage matter more than credentials or tenure.
If AI continues to exponentially develop, then there will be a point where all our efforts will cease to be effective. If and when that comes is a topic for another post.
But for now, who are the winners?
Those who integrate technology not just as a tool, but as an extension of their creative and strategic self.
Wealth Polarization Effect
This has been written about at length by others, but it bears repeating. Our economy gone full tilt toward the investor/owner class.
The rich do not work to earn but to build, own, and leverage. Income is shifted to capital which powers assets that bring returns. They use tax shelters to then preserve this wealth.
If you need unions, recognition day/weeks to honor your role in society (ahem), or if they call you “hero” – or any other performative gestures – then alas you’re on the losing side of our economic engine.
Trading time for money is a terrible game to play.
Better to trade money for (more) money.
It is why the middle class has been collapsing, through a toxic combustion of technology and subverted fiscal policies in the US over the last 50 years.
The real divide in America is not by race, gender or sexual orientation. It is by class. Its proxies are diplomas, zip code, and net worth.
Get on the right side of this equation.
And then help others do the same.
Power Shift
Nature hates a vacuum.
So does society apparently.
The old order – of universities, churches, governments, corporations and trad media – are declining in value, relevance, and power.
Trust is now going from established central authorities to de-centralized networks (think crypto, DAOs, discord) and influencers with whom we have para-social relationships.
It’s why Joe Rogan is trusted more than CNN.
The upside of all this disruption is that you don’t need permission.
You can start your own media brand right now.
Your phone is a mobile studio.
You can become your own newspaper.
You have AI agents and web based services that can do the job of hundreds of people.
Lean, small outfits can compete with large, less agile corporations.
The rules of the game have changed. People who struggle are using an outdated playbook for a new era.
What does this mean for you?
If your industry is collapsing → It’s the Great Unbundling.
If you’re burnt out → It’s the Acceleration Trap
If you’re relationship with money is tense → It’s the Wealth Polarization Effect
If your cherished institutions are failing → It’s the Power Effect
As a result, you must:
- Build direct relationships with partners and clients (Unbundling)
- Reinvent constantly (Acceleration)
- Own instead of earn (Wealth Polarization)
- Leverage brand & technology (Power Shift)
In short: Develop a network, leverage AI and build an audience.
I won’t lie, this is hard. The shared stories, rituals, and communities of traditional institutions brought order, sense and meaning to people’s lives. It takes hard hard work to figure that out yourself.
It can be lonely too, especially until new forms human fellowship emerge in our digital age.
But you can’t “opt out” of these disruptions. Like entropy, they are a forward arrow. You can only choose how to engage: reactively or strategically.
The people who will thrive are those who understand these forces not as threats, but as building blocks for the future.
So what will you build?
Tomorrow Can’t Wait,
