Progress drives leadership; and in recent articles, we discussed how innovation drives progress. We reviewed research that shows how innovation drives wealth in a society. We identified the different kinds of innovation and noted that some were transformative in nature. We also identified computing as an elevating innovation, which means that it has the potential to bring about a societal level jump. But how could it do that?
Every societal level (band, tribe, chiefdom, fiefdom, nation-state) is capped in its potential size. Bands rarely grow larger than a few dozen people. Tribes rarely exceed a couple of hundred. Chiefdoms can reach into the tens of thousands. Fiefdoms can reach a few million. And nation-states can reach into the hundreds of millions. A couple of modern nation-states have already reached this limit. China has to suppress individual freedoms to control its bulging population. And it doesn’t appear that India will ever be able to lift its oversized and still growing population out of poverty. So, what does a society do?
Elevating innovations enable societies to manage resources across a larger population and territory. Every time a society has jumped to a new level, an elevating innovation preceded the jump to make it possible. (Printing enabled Britain to jump first to the nation-state.) So, if the historical pattern continues, someday, another elevating innovation (i.e., computing) will enable a new, larger societal level (i.e., a nation-union) to emerge because societies will have the tools and the strategy (i.e., direct governance) to manage resources better. But why is this of interest from a leadership standpoint?
Population is a source of leadership power. All else being equal, a larger society has more potential to influence neighbors than a smaller one. As such, the ability to manage resources across a larger population becomes critical when considering how societies will become leaders in the future. Interesting times lie ahead.
No responses yet