The Fires of Transformation: What’s Your Plan?

Hi there,

Welcome to issue #54 of the Network Wrangler.

I’m crushed this week seeing news of the devastating fires spreading across Los Angeles: the topography of LA is literally being transformed overnight.

The multiple outbreaks of wildfires, in abnormally high winds across a bone-dry L.A. Basin, are a stark reminder of the consequences of the climate change we’ve been inflicting on this planet over the last half century (and more).

It’s yet another reminder that things are changing all around us in our climate, innovations, and technology development and deployment.

One of the insights I gained from my time at Singularity University is that change is a given. Change will only start coming at us faster, and therefore, today’s pace of change is the slowest it will ever be.

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Peter Diamandis, one of the co-founders of Singularity University, explains this pace of transformation in a succinct way:

“Think of all the progress humanity made between 1900 and 2000. The airplane, the moon landing, the transistor, the internet—all of it happened in a single century. Now here’s the crazy part: the same level of technological progress we achieved in those 100 years is now being compressed into a few decades.

“Between 2000 and 2016, we saw the rise of Facebook, YouTube, Tesla, and the iPhone. But the pace of change is accelerating. From 2016 to 2022, we saw just as much innovation. And between 2022 and 2026? The same amount of progress will happen again—compressed into just four years.”

All of this transformation is happening all around us, every day, whether we notice it or not, just like the adverse changes to the climate.

We only see the effects of technological transformation episodically with the public launches of new technology like iPhone, Tesla, or OpenAI.

We only see the impact of climate transformation episodically in giant cyclones, massive floods, and urban wildfires.

It can only be characterized as episodic, if localized, chaos.

This is where our ability to network comes to the forefront to help us prepare for the ongoing and upcoming chaos of transformation.

I grew up learning how to make plans and manage projects. Skills that are useful based on the expectation of order, which was useful in my early career.

But as I grew older, became a parent, and started working on a global, not local, scale, I encountered chaotic situations with more and more regularity (see the last 25 years of innovation since January, 2000).

I had to learn all the skills to prepare for chaos, which meant creating stronger and broader networks of people with skills that complemented mine. This meant that any time I ran into a new (sometimes chaotic) situation, I could reach out to someone I knew to help me thrive.

And thanks to all these excellent networking tools we have at our disposal today (LinkedIn, Dex, and many new AI-powered apps in development), it’s easier than ever to know who makes up your network and the strengths they bring to you.

And with the click of a button you can tap into the strengths of your network’s network. The possibilities of harnessing collective people power to address our problems are limitless.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, is often quoted as saying, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

This is an accurate observation in creating new habits, which are a uniquely individual effort.

However, neuroscience research is revealing that we are profoundly impacted by the actions and thoughts of the people we surround ourselves by just by spending time around them. The microhabits we witness and the reactions and proactions of those we share space with actually change our brain thanks to our neuroplasticity.

So, more than ever, you want to be conscious of, and intentional about, the people you spend the most time with. (Even those beyond the five or so in your Inner Circle).

• How did they help you get where you are?

• What are they doing to help you achieve your goals this year?

• Are they helping you prepare for the chaos to come?

I’d add a corollary to Clear’s systems adage by saying we rise or fall to the level of the people we are closest to.

What are you doing to ensure you’ve got the right people around you?

Take some time this weekend to understand who you’re giving the gift of your presence to, and what you’re getting in return.

Maybe it’s time to make room for someone new?

In the meantime, let’s do what we can to help those affected by the fires in Southern California. They’re in our network.

Thanks for reading the Network Wrangler!

P.S. Want to comment/reply/say hello? Just hit reply — your email goes straight to my inbox. 🤗