Ten Years To Midnight
Ten Years To Midnight
Ten Years To Midnight
The world’s most acute issues PwC summarized in ADAPT (see PwC's
ADAPT framework) set in motion four broad crises that, if not addressed,
will cause irreparable harm in the next ten years: a crisis of prosperity, a
crisis of technology, a crisis of institutional legitimacy, and a crisis of
leadership. All dangerously intertwined, these four crises have forced us to
rethink and reconfigure the future. They have also been accelerated by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Source:
Consult, “Media1,Companies
October Dominate Most Divisive Brands List, and It Keeps Getting Worse,” Morning
2019, https://morningconsult.com/2019/10/01/polarizing-brands-2019/
The most obvious example is the incredible lack of action taken to address
climate change. The overall goal of the 2016 Paris climate accord was to
hold global average temperature increases to “well below 2 degrees
centigrade above pre-industrial levels.” Out of 195 signatories, only seven
countries met this goal and none of them are major contributors to
greenhouse gases1. But we are also seeing it on other issues that require
global cooperation - from economic stimulus to vaccine development. When
people’s local concerns become too acute, leadership behaviour gets
increasingly parochial and the world is perceived as a zero-sum game.
1. Source: “Climate Action Tracker,” https://climateactiontracker.org/countries
Solutions
Driving that scale of change in today’s world will take leadership fit for the
task. We need a new model. Leaders need capabilities and sensibilities that
seem at odds with each other: technologically sophisticated while also
deeply aware of human systems and psychology; heroically courageous,
but humble enough to listen and change course if needed; deeply aware of
the foundational elements of the things we are trying to change, but highly
innovative to name a few (see PwC’s Six paradoxes of leadership). The
foundational task for leaders of nations, institutions and businesses is to
foster this kind of leadership so the world can meet the crises that threaten
us all.
Finally, while the book was written prior to COVID-19, the pandemic has
accelerated virtually every trend discussed. It is intended to remind
everyone that there is very little time to rethink and act before the world
becomes a much worse place. But, this book is ultimately hopeful. The
authors have faith that humanity will rise to the challenge and offer both a
frame to understand the current state of the world, and a way to think about
creating the future that will serve all in under 200 pages. Its exhortation is to
get to work.