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November 3rd, 2008 by Leadership Catalyst

It had to happen, the question was just when: the bottom has finally fallen out of a global market pumped up on massive, manic, consumerism. Dizzy on the high octane ‘you want the world – and you want it NOW!’ message drummed into the head of unwary people by the incessant 24/7 advertising machine it turned human beings into ‘consumers’ (visualize yourself as a ‘consumer’… your function is to consume… not to think, not to create, not to contribute… it is to spend the money you have worked for as soon as you have made it, and then some more).

This cynical cycle of brainwashing humanity into finding meaning-by-consumption was equivalent to putting a loaded gun into the hand of a child and ask it not to pull the trigger and then wait to see what happens.

Of course the child pulled the trigger and rejoiced in the sense of power it seemed to have. So the child continued pulling the trigger, faster and faster, we wanted it all: the brands, the holidays, the fine dining, meanwhile totally missing the point that this drive to total instant satisfaction was creating totally irrelevant jobs and ‘industries’ that produced nothing but soap bubbles.

Thus this ‘crash’ is actually a highly necessary re-setting of the clock, and it couldn’t have come sooner!

All this glitz and glam business of the latest ‘must have X…’ (you choose: car, bag, shoes, the right spa, holiday trip, etc) created a plethora of jobs and revenue streams that had one thing in common: they are simply not relevant or based in the current long term realities of the planet.

A classic example is tourism. Largely funded by cheap credit a human avalanche has swept over oceans and mountains, creating fake incomes in far away economies (fake inasmuch as local populations were made dependent on the tourist dollar, cut off from the ability to truly create long term, local economic solutions that are relevant, they were relegated to attract tourism by creating ‘authentic experiences’ for the culturally numb tourist from somewhere else, dressing up in funny skirts, gyrating to fake tunes in ‘real tribal dances’ etc…), over-burdening the local and global biosphere (from gutting local mangrove forests in order to build the next ‘exclusive’ resort that happened to look like all the other resorts to the perennial golfer who has to lug tons of steel in form of golf sets around the world, the ecological footprint has been gargantuan and unsustainable), creating total focus on an unsustainable instant satisfaction mania.

If you are in the mainstream tourism business get ready to become irrelevant.
Mass tourism at the scale witnessed over the last 50 years is a historical aberration, both financially & ecologically.

As with tourism a whole slew of other businesses will become irrelevant in the face of economic and ecological realities.

How do you find out if you will still be relevant?

Tune In -> Get Relevant

Find The Source -> Find A Thought Leader

The fact is that while most of humanity was asleep at the wheel of self indulgence at the cost of the future some people have been working away at creating a disruptive future that will burst into massive relevance over the next decade.

The best way to find relevance is to find the source of these new thoughts: the Thought Leaders

Thought Leaders are individuals who do not operate in parallel fantasy realities created by the consumerist machine but take a cold hard look at what is, the real issues of the planet, warts and all, allowing them to formulate brand new, relevant ideas and strategies that will change the world you and I knew forever.

Here are some of these relevant thinkers and thoughts:

The Future Of Cars Without Oil
www.betterplace.com
The days of oil in your car are numbered, and there is a huge new wave of change building… it might just look like hat Better Place has in mind… the question is: how can you connect with people/businesses who are getting ready for this future now and ride the wave to success

Cradle 2 Cradle: The Future Of Materials & Industrial Design
Michael Braungart & William McDonough are two of the most seminal thinkers of future product & industrial design. Forget recycling, get into sustainability. Immerse into Braungart’s & McDonough’s thinking and support your company design completely new products that will dominate your niche while your competitors are swallowed by their own carbon footprint.
www.mcdonough.com/cradle_to_cradle.htm

Peter Gleick – The Unavoidable Water Crisis
The future of water has arrived, it is already the real change maker in politics and economics, those who have water will wield unknown power, whilst the rest of the world will suffer untold misery and mass migration if we do not face the water question head on. No one has studied this question in more depth than Peter Gleick, get tuned in, find a way to become a part of the water solution, start a business, work for a business that is part of the solution and become relevant!
www.pacinst.org

Mitchell Joachim –The Future Of Cities
Arguably one of the most visionary architects in the world he dos not focus on mere buildings. Mr. Joachim is ideating whole living eco-systems that will be fully sustainable and carbon-neutral. Get in the game, see what the future city you may live in will look like, learn to recognize companies that are designing the right products now which will be commonplace tomorrow and join them.
www.terreform.org

Joe Hartberg – The Future Of Eco-Entrepreneurship
Joe is a man who decided to become relevant. A man who realized that combating global warming and reducing our ecological footprint was not only a nice idea, but an overwhelming necessity he took action and became relevant by opening a new company: Current Energy (www.currentenergy.com). Joe now supports companies and homeowners to find the right electrical solutions to become energy efficient, becoming relevant and well off at the same time.

Get up, get going, become relevant.