Binge Thinking

Liquid Modernity - Ros Palmer

I love new terminology and have just discovered (thank to trendwatching.com) 'Liquid Modernity' by Polish sociologist Zymunt Bauman.

Says the article in trendwatching.com/briefing:

"Liquid Modernity" is Bauman's term for the present condition of the world as contrasted with the "solid" modernity that preceded it. According to Bauman, the passage from "solid" to "liquid" modernity has created a new and unprecedented setting for individual life pursuits, confronting individuals with a series of challenges never before encountered. Social forms and institutions no longer have enough time to solidify and cannot serve as frames of reference for human actions and long-term life plans, so individuals have to find other ways to organize their lives.

Individuals have to splice together an unending series of short-term projects and episodes that don't add up to the kind of sequence to which concepts like "career" and "progress" could be meaningfully applied.

Such fragmented lives require individuals to be flexible and adaptable — to be constantly ready and willing to change tactics at short notice, to abandon commitments and loyalties without regret and to pursue opportunities according to their current availability. In liquid modernity the individual must act, plan actions and calculate the likely gains and losses of acting (or failing to act) under conditions of endemic uncertainty."

So the key is to be flexible to change. We agree which is why we have published a new and updated edition of 'How to save time & money by managing organisational change effectively'. It is a practical workbook designed to guide you through time of change or in the language of Bauman, in times of ongoing 'Liquid Modernity'.

Using the Go MAD Thinking System, for starters you can ask yourself the following four questions:

• What are the reasons for the current change?
• What are the implications of doing nothing?
• What else do we need to understand about the reasons for change?
• What is the most compelling reason for change?