A New Scheme of Things

Abstract

Whilst we are the products of our heritage, we do not have to be victims of it; there have already been enough of those. Everyone in organisations talks of the constant change, but one poster sums up many people’s attitude. It reads ‘We welcome change provided it does not affect us.’ Well, now there is no hiding place. Many people talk of a new paradigm of business, of new realities and a new era. Much is changing, but not all that much is really new. This chapter will briefly examine some of the key changes and provide a thumbnail sketch of how organisations have to change to meet the challenges facing us as we approach the millennium. The rest of the book expands this sketch, describing how organisations will have to respond to meet these challenges. As I gathered examples and constructed my thoughts, I was struck by how little of what we think of as new, is actually new. Most things being promoted as modern solutions have their origins in the ideas and practices of yesteryear. It is what many would describe as common sense. But as Lord Sieff of Marks and Spencer fame was reputed to have said, ‘The problem with common sense is that it’s not very common.’

We have it in our power to begin the world over again.

(Thomas Paine 1737–1809)