The Next Tech Paradigm Shifts

This is a full hour-long version of the talk "The Next Tech Paradigm Shifts" that CEO Pete Leyden gives to organizations all over the world. In the talk, Leyden discusses how paradigm shifts work in a broad historical context. He then goes on to explore some trends in technology, new media, and demographics and discusses how these are already staring to create paradigm shifts in fields like politics and problem-solving. This talk was given at a public luncheon for the Lockheed Martin Corporation in Washington State. To see more video of Pete Leyden speaking, please go here.

World Historic Transformations

In this section, Leyden discusses the many challenges that are setting the stage for global transformation. He says that periods of transformation are always characterized by a set of deep structural changes and unprecedented challenges. There have been about four periods of transformation in American history, and Leyden posits that one is currently taking place right now. We are currently faced with a wide array of challenges, from climate change to an increasingly-globalized economy, and we need new ways of solving big problems.

 

 

 

The Digital Revolution Continues

One of the biggest developments shifting the world right now is the ongoing digital revolution. In this section, Leyden lays out how Moore's Law predicts explosive growth in technology, and that high-bandwidth connections are bringing this power into the hands of everybody. Essentially, Leyden says, this is putting what was once mainframe power into every iPhone and iPad. These trends are starting to enable global revolutions, as seen recently in the Arab Spring.

 

 

How Paradigm Shifts Work

This segment gives an overview of how paradigm shifts work, including how new technologies come into use, and how people adopt them. New technologies, Leyden says, are the key to attacking problems in new ways - and once introduced can shift thinking in profoundly new ways. He points to the internet, and how it has, in a blink of an historical eye, effectively replaced a broad range of top-down media broadcast media sources.

 

 

 

The Mobile Future

In this video, Leyden gives an overview of the huge shifts currently underway in media production and distribution. He posits that advances in technology are putting powerful media creation and distribution tools in the palms' of our hands, and that this is leading to a democratization of media. At the same time, digital tools like the iPad are making it easier than ever for consumers to engage with media in new, profound ways.

 

 

Broadband Web and Video

This segment delves into the explosive increase in the production and implementation of high-quality video. Leyden says that increasing internet speeds enabled by the spread of broadband will make video an indespensible part of online communications. This is significant because it represents a step toward more nuanced and robust communication between people that text and photos do not provide.

 

 

 

 

 

The Social Media Future

In this section, Leyden discusses the power of social media, fueled by the network effect. Websites like Twitter and Facebook are connecting people all over the world, letting them share and collaborate in unanticipated ways. Leyden posits that the growth of social networking represents a reframing about the way we think of human relationships, and may help lead to new abilities to mount large-scale challenges.

 

 

 

 

The Millennial Generation

This segment delves into the millennial generation. Leyden explains that this generation is the largest in American history, and that its size will profoundly impact the country's landscape. Leyden says that this generation is diverse, endowed, global, and civic-minded - distinguishing them from past generations like Gen-X. The millennial generation boom is also accompanied by a melding of America, by which it will be a majority minority country by 2050.

 

 

 

 

 

21st Century Technologies

This segment delves into the challenges the world is currently facing, especially climate change. Leyden posits that with insights gained through our current paradigm shifts, we can start developing ways of producing renewable energy and replacing our current system of fossil fuel energy production. This will be necessary, not only because of the threat of global warming, but because of the ever-increasing cost of fossil fuels.

 

 

 

 

The Paradigm Shift in Politics

This section explores the key roles that new technology is playing in politics. The Obama campaign specifically represents a paradigm shift away from large-scale, concentrated fundraising to a more dispersed network of small-scale donors. Technology is also enabling new ways of messaging, away from the centralized broadcast model and more towards a digital, bottom-up media strategy. What worked in past elections is not working now.

 

 

 

 

 

The Paradigm Shift in Solving Problems

In the final part of this talk, Leyden discusses some of technology's key attributes, and how they are being applied to large-scale problem solving. He says that, like dispersed server farms, people can now utilize technology to parallel processing to engage large-scale problems in such detail that we will start seeing huge breakthroughs in dealing with our global challenges.