As with all stages of constant change, there comes a moment of crisis. Many say that crisis means threat and opportunity based upon a Chinese legend. That legend is that crisis in China is a proverb which states that “crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind”. It’s very true. Riding the dangerous wind (骑着危险的狂风) emphasises the idea of navigating the crisis, embracing the change, and using the situation as an opportunity for development.
We are currently in the midst of that inflection point. The storm of AI and robotics developments we see today are huge, massive and transformational, and we have no idea what it will mean. It feels like going through the industrial revolution, but now we are going through the technology revolution. Every single day, there’s a new development, a new idea, a new company that can make everything different.
Should we fear it or embrace it?
I guess, like most things that are futuristic, we fear change rather than embrace it, but that is to do with fear or flight. We fear change and try to run away from it. What about standing up to it and hugging it?
I always remember a speaker at my Financial Services Club: Ben Saunders. Ben was one of the youngest solo explorers to reach the North Pole, and went on to lead the first return journey to the South Pole on foot via Shackleton and Scott’s route. He’s quite a guy.
During Ben’s speech about his experiences, he recounted his first North Pole expedition with Pen Hadow in 2001. The guys encountered a Polar Bear but, luckily, had been trained what to do. First, make yourself as big as possible and not run away, so he put his ski poles over his head and stood his ground … but the bear kept coming. At that point, the best idea was to make a loud noise, so Pen – (ed: really, it’s Pen and Ben?) – tried to fire his shotgun … but was out of shot and the gun wouldn’t fire.
No noise, nothing happened.
Amazingly the bear came to a stop, stared at them, and turned around. The crisis was over. You can hear the story direct from Ben here:
It reminded me of the old joke about two hikers who encountered a Grizzly Bear in North America. If you don’t know it, here’s the version of it that Benedict Cumberbatch (as Alan Turing) tells in The Imitation Game:
There are two people in a wood, and they run into a bear. The first person gets down on his knees to pray; the second person starts lacing up his boots. The first person asks the second person, “My dear friend, what are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear.” To which the second person responds, “I don’t have to. I only have to outrun you.”
Both stories give you the insight into what it means to be in a crisis. First, you have to stand up and embrace the change: challenge it, confront it, don’t avoid it. The second is to think about what to do to win when you understand the change. As Steve Jobs famously is quoted, when he came back to Apple in a downturn, you have to innovate out of a crisis.
All in all, every crisis is threat (a bear) and opportunity (innovation). Which route are you taking on this AI one?