December 2019 – the last month of a mega decade. What has this decade produced? Huge advancements in technology, a renaissance in design thinking, futures conversations that defy current logic, the arrival of a new generation being born as we speak (Gen Alpha) and the immergence of the Gen Z Generation into a work place that is tragically ill prepared for them. 2020 is merely weeks away.
Some lament 2019 was a tough year, others rave at the mega opportunities 2019 presented. It really is a reflection of one’s perception of life. Allow social media and the media in general to be your biggest influencer and without doubt you will be trapped in the downward spiral of doom and gloom. Choose to step out into a different reality and life has a very different sheen. On Thursday the 5th of December 2019 I bought a ticket to attend the Head Chef top 5 South African Start Up’s Award Ceremony in Cape Town. Talk about inspirational! The room was filled with loud, hyped, enthusiastic, young, courageous, tenacious and creative humans all striving to shift an ecosystem of negative, unattainable and impossible to one of shared community, unity, love, success, global supremacy and wicked innovation. Having been bombarded with the woes of SAA and then the arrival of yet another bout of Eskom load shedding my levels of positive thinking were at an all time low. I left this event supper pumped and eternally optimistic that the next decade is safe in the hands of our South African youth. Not only are our Start Up’s leading the tech race in many instances they are attracting massive international investment and generating a global “check out South African and African innovation “culture. I asked myself as I languished in observer awe why these exceptional narratives are not being shared in the media space. Where is the celebration of success for these fledgling organisations ready to take their inaugural flights into global dominance and exponential “trending” (setting new trends). There is a frequency in the country right now that if you have the awareness and consciousness to feel it, is super charged and mega contagious all being generated by our South African youth. To name a few:
- The Nlovu Youth Choir rocks it in the USA bringing African rhythm and vibe to the world
- The Springboks win the Rugby World Cup demonstrating humility and a level of unity rarely seen in the world to date. They united a nation over night
- Beautiful Zozibini Runzi Miss South Africa becomes Miss Universe 2019 taking her unique and authentic inner and outer beauty to the world
- Teddy Nzama beats 15 000 Starbucks employees to be crowned the best barista across Europe, the Middle East and Africa showcasing the skill, service levels and passion of Africa
This people are OUR youth, proudly South African and all change masters in their own way defying the rhetoric of political parties and old systems of separation. There is an undercurrent of massive positivity, will and want for change in our beautiful country as the Millennial’s and Gen Z’s navigate us out of the darkness (excuse the pun) and into the light of a new decade. Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers we have a duty, an obligation, a responsibility to support these avatars as they surge forward in their endeavours to shift a world we certainly did not serve.
Rock on 2020 and the new decade – I for one am ready for you.